How does the free allocation of allowances work?
The free allocation is determined by the total amount of tonne kilometres transported by an aircraft operator in the base year 2010 and a benchmark factor, which will be calculated by the EU Commission. For the purpose of free allocation tonne kilometres are defined as the product of distance and payload, where “distance” means the great circle distance between origin and destination plus an additional fixed factor of 95 km, and “payload” means the total mass of freight, mail and passengers carried. Operators can choose between the mass for passengers and checked baggage contained in its mass and balance documentation, or they can use a default value of 100 kg for each passenger including checked baggage. To apply for free allowances, operators must first submit a monitoring plan to their competent authority by 31 August 2009. This will serve as the basis for monitoring tonne kilometre data in 2010, which must then be verified and reported to the competent authority by 31 March 2010. M
