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About this guidance

You will need to comply with CORSIA as soon as you become an aeroplane operator.

This guidance will help aeroplane operators understand and comply with their obligations under CORSIA. These obligations are set out in full in The Air Navigation (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) Order 2021 (the air navigation order). A further air navigation order will set out the offsetting obligations.

If you need to comply with CORSIA, you must:

• monitor and record your CO₂ emissions from international flights for each scheme year, which runs from 1 January to 31 December

• report your verified emissions from international flights by 30 April in the following year

From 2025 and then every 3 years, purchase and cancel eligible emission units equal to your final offsetting obligation. Your final offsetting obligation will be based on your emissions from international flights subject to offsetting requirements, as notified by your regulator.

If you do not comply with a CORSIA requirement you may have to pay a civil penalty.

If you are not sure about your obligations, or any aspect of this guidance, please contact your regulator.

If you are (or expect to be) an aircraft operator under the United Kingdom Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS), you can find out what you need to do to comply with that scheme in the guidance UK ETS for aviation: how to comply.

About CORSIA

CORSIA is the International Civil Aviation Organizations (ICAO) global market-based measure for international aviation emissions. CORSIA consists of the following 3 phases, which are divided into 3-year compliance periods:

• pilot phase (2021 to 2023)

• first phase (2024 to 2026)

• second phase (2027 to 2029, 2030 to 2032, and 2033 to 2035)

CORSIA requires aeroplane operators to offset the growth in international aviation emissions above a baseline. There was a baseline monitoring period during 2019 and 2020. In June 2020 the ICAO Council agreed that the baseline during the pilot phase will be 2019 emissions levels only, to take into account the significant reduction in air traffic and emissions in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In October 2022, the 41st ICAO Assembly agreed that the baseline for the first phase onwards will be 85% of 2019 emissions levels.

State participation in the pilot phase and the first phase is voluntary. The UK confirmed to ICAO in June 2020 that it will participate in CORSIA from the start of the pilot phase. The second phase will include all ICAO states, except those subject to exemptions.

Emissions from international flights operated between participating states will be subject to offsetting. ICAO lists the Chapter 3 state pairs that participate in CORSIA.

ICAO will review CORSIA every 3 years.

You can find out more about CORSIA from ICAO.

More CORSIA guidance

This guide provides a summary overview of compliance tasks and deadlines as set out in the air navigation order. You can find more information on how to meet your obligations in the following ICAO pages:

• Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), Annex 16 Volume IV

• Environmental Technical Manual (Doc 9501) which gives detailed guidance on implementing CORSIA SARPs, and the methods that are acceptable for demonstrating compliance

• CORSIA Implementation Elements referred to in CORSIA SARPs and essential for implementing CORSIA

Work out if CORSIA applies to you

You will need to work out whether:

• you are an aeroplane operator under CORSIA

• international flights are attributed to you

• the UK is your administering state

Aeroplane operator

You are an aeroplane operator if your annual CO₂ emissions from international flights using aeroplanes with a maximum certificated take-off mass greater than 5,700 kilograms exceed 10,000 tonnes.

International flights

An international flight is the operation of an aircraft from take-off at an aerodrome of a state or its territories, to landing at an aerodrome of another state or its territories. CORSIA does not apply to the following flights, and you do not need to include them when assessing whether you are an aeroplane operator:

• humanitarian, medical and firefighting flights

• international flights before or after a humanitarian, medical or firefighting flight provided they are carried out by the same aeroplane and are either needed for these activities, or to reposition the aeroplane for its next activity

• flights by state aircraft (aircraft used in the military, customs or police services)

If you are not sure whether your flights should be included, please contact your regulator.

Attributing a flight to an aeroplane operator

Under CORSIA, you will need to monitor and report your CO₂ emissions on international flights (other than humanitarian, medical and firefighting flights) attributed to you for every scheme year. International flights are attributed to you if:

• item 7 of the flight plan contains your 