BA to get 10.3 mln free CO2 permits in 2012: UK

An aircraft flies over a wind turbine at East Midlands Airport, central England May 10, 2011.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways will get 10.34 million free carbon permits next year, or around 6 percent of the total allocated to airlines under the EU's cap-and-trade scheme, the UK government said on Friday.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change published allocation figures for 249 UK-registered airlines, detailing how the country's share of 56.7 million free carbon permits will be divvied up.

British Airways' allocation is worth around 112 million euros based on the Thursday's closing price of benchmark December 2011 EUA futures, although equivalent aviation permits (so-called AEUAs) are expected to trade at a slightly lower price due to more lower liquidity.

Dubai-based Emirates, due to receive 4.33 million allowances, will get the second biggest hand-out, while 3.70 million allowances will go to low cost carrier Easyjet and 3.58 million to Virgin Atlantic, according to the data published on DECC's website.

The figures show UK carriers will receive almost a third of the total 183 million free permits to be handed out by the 30 countries that participate in the EU emissions trading scheme ETS.L.

On Monday, the European Commission said 900 airlines will receive free permits to help meet CO2 targets in 2012, the first year the scheme applies to around 4,000 airlines flying into or out of the EU.

In 2012, carriers touching down or taking off within the EU will receive 0.6797 carbon allowances per 1,000 tonne-kilometre flown in 2010, falling to 0.6422 allowances from 2013 through 2020, the EC said.

The allocation of free permits amounts to 85 percent of the sector's 2012 ETS cap and 82 percent of the emission limit for each year of the 2013-2020 trading period.

But because the cap is based on airline emissions from 2004-2006, most carriers are expected to have a permit deficit, meaning they will need to buy additional allowances or U.N.-backed offsets to comply with the limits.

Last week, consultants at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon said British Airways faced the highest ETS bill of any carrier, and more than double that of some of the carrier's U.S. rivals and no-frills EU competitors.

The sector's first deadline to comply with the scheme is April 30, 2013, to cover emissions reported during the previous year.

To see the full UK allocation, both for 2012 and for the 2013-2020 trading period, click here: here

(Reporting by Ben Garside)