- Ten countries have committed to CORSIA units. Supply falls short of requirements. Governments hold responsibility for delivery.
- Airlines purchase available units. Scheme failure would stem from insufficient supply. Coalition works to increase availability.
- Internal policy alignment enables unit release. Procurement events support market development. Industry remains committed despite challenges.
Ten countries have committed to making CORSIA eligible units available, the IATA congress in Rio has been told, but supply remains below industry requirements.
Speaking at the IATA 2026 congress in Rio de Janeiro, Willie Walsh said the message is that CORSIA success depends on governments. New countries beyond Guyana have joined. He said governments must align policies to deliver units and after that airlines will purchase available units. Failure of the scheme would result from lack of supply rather than demand.
The coalition continues to push for more units. Airlines have shown willingness to buy. Governments must fulfil commitments made under the agreement.
The procurement event with Guyana marks progress. More countries are expected to participate. Pricing issues affect the market. The industry maintains commitment to the scheme. Policy alignment is required for units to reach the market.
Willie Walsh shared: “We now have 10 countries who have committed. If CORSIA fails it won’t fail because airlines didn’t buy the units. It will fail because the units weren’t made available by the governments. Airlines will buy what’s made available.”
I flagged the positive development of new countries other than Guyana who were leaders in this section making units available. We now have 10 countries who have committed. But the ammount of units that we made available are still significantly lower than the industry requires.
The message we were sending today is that it’s actually in the hands of governments. If CORSIA fails it won’t fail because airlines didn’t buy the units. It will fail because the units weren’t made available by the governments who actually committed to the CORSIA agreement.
So we really need more governments around the world to recognize that it’s a simple issue of aligning their internal policies and making units available to the airline industry and fulfilling their commitment, airlines will buy what’s made available. But if insufficient units are made available, well then you can’t point the finger at airlines and blame airlines.
We’ve been encouraging more and more governments to make the eligible units available to us. We’re helping them to understand what needs to be done. The coalition that’s been created is one that’s going to continue to push for more eligible units to be made available to the industry to buy, we need governments to respond. It’s not airlines that need to respond. We need governments to respond to make these eligible units available for the industry
