UK ETS · aircraft and ship operators
UK ETS aviation and maritime: flights, ships and CORSIA
UK ETS aviation covers UK domestic, UK–Gibraltar and UK-departing flights to the EEA and Switzerland, and since 1 July 2026 SI 2026/392 has brought ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above into the scheme.
Both report verified emissions by 31 March and surrender allowances by 30 April, according to DESNZ’s participation guidance.
CORSIA, the international aviation scheme, runs beside the UK ETS under its own Order.
Aviation scope
Which flights are in the scheme
Aircraft operators are UK ETS participants under the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020, whose Schedule 1 lists the aviation activities.
The participation guidance lists four kinds of covered flight: UK domestic flights; flights between the UK and Gibraltar; flights departing the UK to European Economic Area states; and flights departing the UK to Switzerland.
The scheme does not cover every international departure: arriving flights, and departures to destinations outside the EEA and Switzerland, are outside it.
Aviation is carbon dioxide only.
The checker beside this covers aviation, shipping and installations; choose “Aircraft” for a route.
UK ETS coverage · SI 2020/1265
Covered: combustion units with a total rated thermal input exceeding 20 MW.
At no more than 24,999 tCO₂e and a rated thermal input below 35 MW, the site may apply to be a hospital or small emitter: it reports annual emissions against targets instead of surrendering allowances.
Status is by list or application.
Sources: SI 2020/1265 Sch 2 Table C, Sch 7 paras 1 and 5, Sch 8 para 1; SI 2026/392; DESNZ, Participating in the UK ETS; UK ETS Authority waste update, 26 August 2026.
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The annual cycle
Report by 31 March, surrender by 30 April
An aircraft operator holds an emissions monitoring plan rather than a permit, and monitors its emissions under it through each calendar scheme year.
It submits a verified annual emissions report covering the previous scheme year by 31 March, and surrenders enough UK allowances to cover that year’s reportable emissions by 30 April.
The two deadlines are a month apart and are separate obligations; citing one for the other is a common error.
Free allocation for aircraft operators was phased out from 2026: the entitlement ran only for the 2021 to 2025 allocation period, so every allowance surrendered from 2026 is bought.
An allowance not surrendered by 30 April carries the excess emissions penalty in article 52(2) — £100 multiplied by the inflation factor — for aircraft operators as for installations.
Allowances are surrendered from an aircraft operator holding account in the UK Emissions Trading Registry; the wider scheme, auctions and the £28 floor are on the UK ETS page.
- Through the yearMonitor under the emissions monitoring plan
- 31 MarchVerified emissions report
For the previous scheme year.
- 30 AprilSurrender allowances
Equal to that year’s reportable emissions.
CORSIA
A separate scheme, run alongside
CORSIA, the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, is an ICAO scheme implemented in UK law by the Air Navigation (CORSIA) Order 2021.
Article 22 of that Order requires an aeroplane operator to monitor and record its fuel use from international flights in accordance with an eligible monitoring method.
Article 31 requires it to submit a copy of its verified emissions report, with the associated verification report, to the Regulator for approval.
That monitoring and reporting duty applies whether or not the operator has reached the offsetting stage, which phases in under ICAO’s periods.
CORSIA is not part of the UK ETS: it runs alongside it, under its own Order, with its own Regulator duties.
Which emissions units CORSIA accepts is ICAO’s list; this page does not count it.
UK ETS aviation: SI 2020/1265.
CORSIA: SI 2021/534, implementing ICAO’s scheme.
One operator can be in both, on different flights and with different duties.
Maritime
Ships of 5,000 GT, from 1 July 2026
The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026 extends the scheme to maritime activities by maritime operators.
It covers ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above, regardless of flag state.
Domestic voyages and in-port activity are in scope from 1 July 2026; offshore vessels are added from 1 January 2027.
A domestic voyage begins and ends in UK ports, including the same port; in-port activity is emissions at berth in a UK port of call and movements within it.
The 5,000 GT threshold is gross tonnage, a measure of a ship’s volume, not an emissions figure.
Government and military ships, fish-catching and fish-processing ships, and ferries serving Scottish islands and remote peninsulas are exempt.
The regulator follows the operator’s place of registration, and operators registered outside the UK go to the Environment Agency.
Maritime · first dates and the penalty
Apply within 42 days of 14 September 2026; the 42nd day after it is 26 October 2026.
Count the days with your regulator.
First verified report: 31 March 2027, for 2026.
First surrender: 30 April 2028, covering emissions from 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2027 together.
£20,000 + £500 × 30 = £35,000.
The £500 daily addition stops at the £45,000 cap, reached after 50 days.
Separate from the excess emissions penalty for allowances not surrendered.
Sources: SI 2026/392 (arts 64B–64E of the Order); DESNZ, Participating in the UK ETS.
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Maritime MRV
Three gases, and a 42-day window
Maritime monitoring does not mirror aviation’s carbon dioxide basis: SI 2026/392 defines maritime emissions to include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
A maritime operator must apply for an emissions monitoring plan within 42 days of its first maritime activity.
Verified annual emissions reports are due by 31 March following each scheme year, so the first maritime reports are due on 31 March 2027 for the second half of 2026.
The first surrender is unusual: emissions from 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2027 are surrendered together by 30 April 2028, and annual surrender by 30 April follows from the 2028 scheme year.
The Order as made inserts new civil penalties, articles 64B to 64E: £20,000 plus £500 a day, capped at £45,000, for failing to apply for or comply with a monitoring plan, or to monitor or report.
The surrender deadline for maritime sits in new article 52(9A)(b), and the excess emissions penalty for allowances not surrendered applies on top.
Beyond the ETS
The same fuel, in company reporting
| Regime | What the operator’s fuel burn feeds | Relationship |
|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 | Direct emissions from owned aircraft and ships | The ETS figure is a subset on its own boundary |
| SECR | Energy use and emissions in the annual report, including transport | Separate duty; ETS data can feed it |
| energy savings opportunity scheme | Total energy including transport, for a large undertaking | Separate duty; ETS participation is not ESOS compliance |
| CORSIA | International-flight fuel use | Separate monitoring and verified reporting |
The ETS boundary is the scheme’s: covered flights, covered voyages, covered ports.
A company’s own reporting boundary is the group, and includes flights and voyages the ETS does not, so the two figures rarely match one for one.
The policy overview puts aviation and domestic maritime among the sectors that make up about 25% of UK territorial emissions covered by the scheme.
Test yourself
Six claims, true or false
The common errors here are scope errors: treating every departure as covered, or treating gross tonnage as an emissions figure.
The others are date errors, especially the two-deadline cycle and the unusual first maritime surrender.
Each answer names the instrument or guidance that settles it.
UK ETS aviation and maritime: true or false?
UK ETS aviation covers every international flight departing the UK.
The report deadline and the surrender deadline are the same date.
CORSIA is part of the UK ETS.
The 5,000 GT maritime threshold is an emissions figure.
Maritime covers methane and nitrous oxide as well as carbon dioxide.
A ship sailing from a UK port to Rotterdam is in the UK ETS for that leg.
0 of 6 answered.
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Frequently asked
Aviation and maritime, answered
Which flights does the UK ETS cover?
UK domestic flights, flights between the UK and Gibraltar, and flights departing the UK to European Economic Area states and to Switzerland.
Arriving flights and departures to other destinations are outside the scheme.
What are the UK ETS aviation deadlines?
Two, a month apart: a verified annual emissions report covering the previous scheme year by 31 March, and surrender of enough UK allowances to cover that year’s emissions by 30 April.
They are separate obligations.
Do aircraft operators still get free UK ETS allowances?
No. Free allocation for aircraft operators was phased out from 2026; the entitlement ran for 2021 to 2025.
From 2026 aircraft operators buy every allowance they surrender.
What is CORSIA, and is it part of the UK ETS?
No. CORSIA is an ICAO-origin offsetting scheme implemented in UK law by the Air Navigation (CORSIA) Order 2021, SI 2021/534.
It requires aeroplane operators to monitor fuel use on international flights and submit verified emissions reports to the Regulator, alongside the UK ETS rather than inside it.
Which ships are in the UK ETS?
Ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above, regardless of flag, for domestic voyages and emissions in UK ports, from 1 July 2026.
Offshore vessels are added from 1 January 2027.
Government and military ships, fishing ships and ferries serving Scottish islands and remote peninsulas are exempt.
Which gases does UK ETS maritime cover?
Three: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. That is wider than aviation, which is carbon dioxide only.
When is the first UK ETS maritime surrender?
By 30 April 2028, covering emissions from 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2027 together.
Verified reports do not wait: the first is due on 31 March 2027, for 2026.
Annual surrender by 30 April follows from the 2028 scheme year.
What is the UK ETS maritime penalty?
Failing to apply for or comply with an emissions monitoring plan, or to monitor or report, carries a civil penalty of £20,000 plus £500 a day, capped at £45,000.
Failing to surrender allowances carries the separate excess emissions penalty of £100 multiplied by the inflation factor per allowance.
Sources
Primary sources
Every figure, date and status on this page traces to the instrument’s owner.
Secondary commentary is never the source for a number.
- legislation.gov.ukThe Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020 (SI 2020/1265)
Aviation coverage in Schedule 1; the aviation and maritime provisions as amended.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2020/1265, article 52 — penalties for failing to surrender
£100 × the inflation factor per allowance, for operators and aircraft operators alike.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2026/392 — Extension to Maritime Activities Order 2026
Ships of 5,000 GT and above from 1 July 2026; three gases; the civil penalties in arts 64B–64E.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2021/534 — Air Navigation (CORSIA) Order 2021, arts 22 and 31
CORSIA monitoring of international-flight fuel use and verified reporting, separate from the UK ETS.
- DESNZParticipating in the UK ETS (updated 1 July 2026)
Covered flights, the 31 March and 30 April deadlines, aviation free allocation ended, maritime scope and first surrender.
- UK ETS AuthorityUK ETS: a policy overview (updated 7 September 2026)
The scheme covers aviation and domestic maritime among about 25% of UK territorial emissions.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2020/1265, Schedule 1 — aviation activities
The aviation activities the Order covers.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2026/392 as made — articles 64B to 64E and article 52(9A)
The maritime civil penalties and the maritime surrender deadline.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2021/534, article 22 — monitoring fuel use
Monitor and record fuel use from international flights by an eligible method.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2021/534, article 31 — verified emissions reports
Submit the verified emissions report and verification report to the Regulator.