India May Ban European Airlines

India said it may stop European carriers from flying into the country if the European Union bans airlines from the South Asian nation that boycott the EU's new emissions fee system."We will take retaliatory actions to counter steps taken by the EU. If Europe bans our carriers we will ban theirs as well," the senior government official, who did not want to be named, told reporters late Friday.The EU in mid-May gave India and China a month to comply with the airline carbon emissions fee system across the 27-nation bloc, or face penalties for flights into and out of Europe.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will urge its airlines to boycott the European Union's carbon charge scheme, raising the prospect of a global trade war over a law requiring flights in and out of Europe to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions. A senior Indian government official told Reuters that India would soon ask local airlines not to buy carbon credits from or share emissions data with the bloc, which says other countries are not doing enough to tackle this source of greenhouse gases. ...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will take swift counter-measures that could include impounding European aircraft if the European Union punishes Chinese airlines for non-compliance with a scheme to curb carbon emissions, the China Air Transport Association said on Tuesday. Chinese airlines, which have been told by Beijing not to comply with the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme, refused to meet a March 31 deadline for submitting carbon emissions data. EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard has said carriers have until mid-June to submit their data before enforcement action is taken. ...

The European Union will maintain its carbon tax imposed on airlines operating in its airspace, the Danish climate minister said, despite retaliatory trade measures by China.As long as an international policy on carbon emissions by airlines is not found, the "EU will stick to its own ETS system", Martin Lidegaard said on Friday. Denmark currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.The carbon tax imposed on airlines by the European Union came into effect on January 1, but carriers will begin receiving bills only in 2013 after this year's carbon emissions have been assessed.