> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://barna.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Barcelona airport emissions will sit outside carbon budget - URL: https://barna.news/barcelona-airport-emissions-will-sit/ - Published: 2026-09-17T13:09:54.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-17T13:09:54.000Z - Description: Aena’s planned passenger growth from 2031 could generate emissions equal to up to 60% of Catalonia’s five-year carbon budget, yet international flights are excluded from that territorial accounting. - Author: Laia Serra - Tags: environment Barcelona-El Prat Airport’s planned first-phase growth from 2031 will add substantial aviation emissions that will not count towards Catalonia’s official carbon budget, according to a [Directa investigation](https://directa.cat/les-emissions-dampliar-laeroport-de-barcelona-que-oficialment-no-comptaran/?ref=barna.news). For residents and businesses expected to cut their own emissions under Catalonia’s climate plans, the exclusion means the airport’s international-flight emissions do not reduce the amount formally available to other sectors. Aena, Spain’s state-controlled airport operator, plans to raise the airport’s capacity from 57 million passengers in 2025 to 60 million in the first phase projected for 2031\. The Catalan and Spanish governments support turning the airport into an intercontinental connections hub. International aviation emissions are not included in the territorial greenhouse-gas inventories submitted by countries under the [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change reporting framework](https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2005/sbsta/eng/inf02.pdf?ref=barna.news). International maritime transport is treated in the same way. ## Airport estimate compared with Catalonia’s 2031–35 cap Catalonia’s Committee of Experts on Climate Change, an expert body selected by the Catalan Parliament, has set an average annual limit of 15.96 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent for 2031–35\. That amounts to 79.8 million tonnes across the five-year period. Using Zeroport estimates based on a 2019 calculation by Barcelona Regional, the urban planning agency, and applying them to 60 million passengers in 2031, [Directa reports](https://directa.cat/les-emissions-dampliar-laeroport-de-barcelona-que-oficialment-no-comptaran/?ref=barna.news) that airport activity would produce 9.64 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent annually. - **2031–35 Catalan carbon budget:** 79.8 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent. - **Estimated airport emissions at 60 million passengers:** 48 million tonnes over the same five years. - **Share of the budget represented by that estimate:** up to 60%. > “It is known that we have no way to significantly reduce them without reducing the sector’s activity,” the Committee of Experts on Climate Change said of aviation emissions. --- ## Different methods produce lower, but still large, totals Climate Trace, a research group that assigns only take-off emissions between departure and arrival airports, produces a lower estimate. On that basis, airport activity at 60 million passengers would emit 4.38 million tonnes annually, or 21.9 million tonnes during 2031–35, equal to 27.44% of Catalonia’s five-year cap, according to the Directa report. The estimates assume unchanged aircraft occupancy and do not include potential efficiency gains or changes in fuel use. They are intended to show the scale of emissions associated with one transport infrastructure. Clàudia Custodio, a climate-justice researcher at ODG and a member of the Zeroport platform, said Barcelona airport already emits more than all homes in Catalonia combined and more than Repsol’s activity in Catalonia. > “If Catalonia’s carbon budgets are met and transport-sector emissions are reduced, but aviation emissions are expanded, the numbers do not add up,” Custodio said. Aena’s longer-term plans cited in the report envisage capacity of 70 million passengers by 2035\. The operator also expects a proposed third-runway expansion, affecting the protected La Ricarda and El Remolar natural areas, to allow up to 80 million passengers. --- *Primary sources:* [*United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change*](https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2005/sbsta/eng/inf02.pdf?ref=barna.news)*. Reported by directa.cat, Directa.* --- ### Related on Barna.News - [Catalonia Advances Renewable Energy Plan](https://barna.news/catalonia-advances-renewable-energy-plan/) - [Catalan factories boost biomass use amid fire risks](https://barna.news/catalan-factories-boost-biomass-use/) - [Catalonia Adds 2,400MW Battery Storage in New Projects](https://barna.news/catalonia-adds-2-400mw-battery-storage/) - [Two New ASF Cases Found in Barcelona, Molins](https://barna.news/two-new-asf-cases-found-in-barcelona/)