- aeroplane
means a power-driven heavier-than-air aircraft, which derives its lift in flight chiefly from aerodynamic reactions on surfaces which remain fixed under given conditions of flight.’;
- air ambient temperature
means the temperature of the air, in Kelvin (K), surrounding an aircraft at any given moment of time during the flight and given for three-dimensional radiative variables;
- aircraft 4D position
means the four-dimensional position of an aircraft defined by its latitude, in decimal degree;
- aircraft engine efficiency
means the percentage of useful thrust generated by an aircraft engine relative to the energy input from fuel;
- aircraft mass
means the mass in kilogrammes of the aircraft along the trajectory, which equals to subtracting from the take-off mass the fuel burn during flight at any given moment of time.
- aircraft performance
means the category of information encompassing fuel flow and aircraft engine efficiency by all-time stamps;
- aircraft properties
means the category of information encompassing as a minimum and for each flight, the aircraft type, the engine(s) identifier(s) and the aircraft mass.
- alternative aviation fuels
means neat aviation fuels containing carbon other than stemming from the neat fossil fuels listed in Table 1 of Annex III to this Regulation;
- aromatic content of the fuel per flight
means the percentage of aromatic hydrocarbons present in the fuel used per flight;
- basic weather data
means the category of information encompassing for each flight, at least the pressure, the air ambient temperature and the specific humidity, used in the fuel burn and emission estimation modules.
- biomass fraction
means the ratio of carbon stemming from biomass to the total carbon content of a fuel or material, expressed as a fraction, independent of whether the biomass complies with the criteria of Article 38(5) of this Regulation;’;
- calculation factors
means net calorific value, emission factor, preliminary emission factor, oxidation factor, conversion factor, carbon content, fossil fraction, biomass fraction, zero-rated biomass fraction, RFNBO or RCF fraction, zero-rated RFNBO or RCF fraction, synthetic low-carbon fraction, zero-rated synthetic low-carbon fraction, zero-rated fraction, or unit conversion factor;’,
- common reference Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model
refers to a computational system utilised in meteorology, comprising algorithms and mathematical formulations implemented in software, designed to simulate, and forecast atmospheric conditions over a defined spatial and temporal domain (spatial grid).
- conversion factor
means the ratio of carbon emitted as CO2 to the total carbon contained in the source stream before the emitting process takes place, expressed as a fraction, considering CO emitted to the atmosphere as the molar equivalent amount of CO2.
- eastward and northward wind
means the horizontal speed of air moving towards the East or North, in meters per second, at any given moment of time during flight and given for three-dimensional radiative variables;
- engine identifier
means the aircraft engine unique identifier number as contained in the ICAO engine emissions databank, or equivalent, allowing to unequivocally identify the engines attached to the aircraft, through internationally recognized standardised lists;
- enhanced weather data
means the category of information encompassing for each flight, the pressure, the air ambient temperature, the specific humidity, the relative humidity over ice, the eastward and northward wind, the vertical velocity, the specific cloud ice water content, the geopotential, the outgoing longwave, reflected solar and solar direct radiation, taken as input from a common reference NWP model, provided by the Commission through NEATS;
- flight fuel properties
means the category of information encompassing for each flight the hydrogen per carbon ratio, aromatic content, and the net calorific value of the fuel on board;
- flight information
means at the minimum the call sign as provided in Article 51 of this Regulation, the day and time of departure and arrival of the flight, expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and the ICAO codes and/or the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) location identifiers for origin and destination airports allowing for unique identification of the given flight;
- flight phase information
means the split of data (e.g. aircraft 4D position, fuel flow) according to operational flight phases (take-off, climb, cruise, etc.);
- flown flight trajectory
means the trajectory followed by the aircraft from its point of origin (departure) to its destination (arrival), constituted by all the time stamps, recorded during the flight.
- fossil carbon
means inorganic and organic carbon that is not zero-rated carbon;’;
- fuel flow
means the mass of fuel in kilograms that passes through the aircraft fuel system and into the aircraft’s engines per second during the flight.
- geopotential
means the gravitational field strength experienced by an aircraft at different altitudes, at any given moment of time during flight, in square meters per squared second (m2/s2) and given for three-dimensional radiative variables;
- hydrogen per carbon (H/C) ratio of fuel per flight
means the number of hydrogen atoms (H) per carbon atom (C) per molecule of the fuel used per flight;
- International Standard Atmosphere (ISA)
means a standard against which to compare the actual atmosphere at any point and time, based on the specific values of pressure, density, and temperature at mean sea level, each of which decreases with increase in height;
- latest flight plan
means the latest flight plan available and acknowledged by relevant air navigation service for a given flight, before it takes place.
- load factor
means the weight of passengers, cargo and baggage, including mail and hand luggage, expressed as fraction of the maximum payload mass.
- location-based simplified approach
means Method D, as provided in Annex IIIa Section 4 to this Regulation, using primarily aircraft in-flight location-related data such as flight information, trajectory, but also basic weather data and aircraft properties;
- mixed aviation fuel
means a fuel which contains at least two different neat fuels;’;
- mixed fuel
means a fuel which contains at least two of the following: or which contains both zero-rated carbon and other carbon.
- neat fuel
means a fuel in its pure form containing only one of the following fractions:
- non-CO2 aviation effects
means non-CO2 aviation effects as defined in Article 3(v) of Directive 2003/87/EC;
- non-CO2 aviation effects tracking system (NEATS)
means an information technology (IT) tool, that is provided by the Commission to aircraft operators, to accredited verifiers and to competent authorities for the purpose of facilitating and, to the extent possible, automating monitoring, reporting and verification of non-CO2 aviation effects, in line with Article 14(5) of Directive 2003/87/EC;
- operation flight envelope
means the boundaries of altitude, aircraft speed, and load factor for each flight phase;
- outgoing longwave radiation
means the total radiation emitted to the space by earth atmosphere system, in W/m2, at any given moment of time during flight and given for three-dimensional radiative variables;
- preliminary emission factor
means the assumed total emission factor of a fuel or material based on its total carbon content before multiplying it by the fossil fraction to produce the emission factor;
- pressure
means the force, in Pascals (Pa), exerted by the weight of the air in the atmosphere above a given point where the aircraft is situated at any given moment of time during flight taking into account three-dimensional radiative variables;
- radiative forcing
means an imposed change of the planetary energy balance, measured in watts per square meter (W/m2);
- recycled carbon fuels
(RCF) means recycled carbon fuels as defined in Article 2, point (35) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;
- reflected solar radiation
means the portion of sunlight that is reflected back into space by the Earth’s surface, clouds, aerosols, and other atmospheric particles, in W/m2, at any given moment of time during flight and given for three-dimensional radiative variables;
- relative humidity over ice
means the concentration of water vapour, in percentage, present in the air compared to its concentration at the saturation point of ice;
- renewable fuels of non-biological origin
(RFNBO) means renewable fuels of non-biological origin as defined in Article 2, point (36) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;
- solar direct radiation
means the portion of sunlight that reaches the Earth’s surface directly from the Sun without being scattered or reflected by the atmosphere or clouds, in W/m2, at any given moment of time during flight and given for three-dimensional radiative variables;
- specific cloud ice water content
means the mass of cloud ice particles per kilogram of the total mass of moist air (kg/kg) surrounding an aircraft at any given moment of time during flight and given for three-dimensional radiative variables;
- specific humidity
means the ratio of water vapor per kilogram of total air mass (kg/kg) surrounding an aircraft at any given moment of time during flight and given for three-dimensional radiative variables;
- synthetic low-carbon fraction
means the ratio of carbon stemming from synthetic low-carbon fuel to the total carbon content of a fuel, expressed as a fraction, independent of whether the synthetic low-carbon fuel complies with the criteria of Article 39a(4) of this Regulation;
- synthetic low-carbon fuels
means gaseous and liquid fuels, the energy content of which is derived from low-carbon hydrogen as defined in Article 2, point (13) of Directive (EU) 2024/1788, which meet the greenhouse gas emission reduction threshold of 70 % compared to the fossil fuel comparator for renewable fuels of non-biological origin set out in the methodology adopted according to Article 29a(3) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, as certified in accordance with Article 9 of Directive (EU) 2024/1788.;’;
- take-off mass
means the aircraft mass at beginning of the take-off run, including everything and everyone carried at that moment, in kilograms.
- three-dimensional radiative variables
means number of variables such as radiative flux density, radiative heating rates, that describe how radiation varies across space, including the Earth’s surface and atmosphere, and how it changes over time;
- time interval
means the time, in seconds, between two-time stamps during the flight, not exceeding 60 seconds;
- time stamp
means a snapshot of data (e.g. aircraft 4D position, fuel flow) that corresponds to any given moment of time, in seconds, during flight and that is to be considered together with time interval;
- true airspeed
means the speed of the aircraft relative to the air mass through which it is flying, in meters per second (m/s);
- vertical velocity
means the speed of air motion in the upward or downward direction (in Pa/s), where negative values of vertical velocity indicate upward motion.
- weather-based approach
means Method C, as provided in Annex IIIa Section 4 to this Regulation, using primarily enhanced weather data, as well as flight information, trajectory, aircraft properties and fuel properties;
- zero-rated biomass fraction
means the ratio of carbon stemming from biomass which complies with the criteria of Article 38(5) of this Regulation to the total carbon content of a fuel or material, expressed as a fraction;
- zero-rated carbon
means carbon contained in a fuel or material that belongs to the zero-rated carbon fraction of that fuel or material.
- zero-rated carbon fraction
means:
- zero-rated fuels
means biofuels, bioliquids, biomass fuels, synthetic low-carbon fuels, RFNBO or RCF or fractions of mixed fuels or materials which comply with the criteria as specified in Articles 38(5) or 39a(3) or 39a(4) of this Regulation, as applicable;
- zero-rated RFNBO or RCF fraction
means the ratio of carbon stemming from an RFNBO or RCF that complies with the criteria of Article 39a(3) of this Regulation, to the total carbon content of a fuel, expressed as a fraction;
- zero-rated synthetic low-carbon fraction
means the ratio of carbon stemming from a synthetic low-carbon fuel that complies with the criteria of Article 39a(4) of this Regulation, to the total carbon content of a fuel;’;
- zero-rating
means the mechanism by which the emission factor of a fuel or material is reduced in order to acknowledge: