LOW COST airline easyJet, one of the Province's three major carriers, is calling on European governments to remove almost 700 of the oldest, dirtiest aircraft from Europe's skies. It wants a ban on any aircraft built before 1990 from operating within the European Union after January 1, 2012.

"It is an unavoidable fact that the oldest aircraft are the least fuel-efficient and, therefore, the most environmentally damaging," says the airline.

According figures from Airbus, a 1980s-vintage MD82 generates 21 per cent more CO2 per seat than an A319 in an equivalent seating layout; and easyJet's own operating data showed the A319 to be 15 per cent more efficient per seat than the Boeing 737-300.

In addition, the fuel consumption of a jet engine deteriorates over time.

EasyJet proposes that as of January 1, 2012 (ie the date all of aviation goes into the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme) no transport aircraft built before January 1, 1990 will be allowed to remain registered in the EU and the requirement would then roll forward each year.