RDC's July 2026 Aviation Emissions Report: Portugal

Having analysed Mexico's aviation emissions in the previous edition, we now examine Portugal's emissions performance within the global aviation market.

Please note as this report is derived from scheduled flight data, emissions linked to the Gulf region may not fully reflect actual flying activity, especially in relation to flight cancellations.

Focus market on this month's report: Portugal

Key highlights

• Global passenger aviation emissions for July 2026 are estimated at 76 million tonnes of CO₂
• Year-to-date global passenger aviation emissions reached 473 million tonnes of CO₂, broadly in line with 2025 levels (472 million tonnes)but still below 2019 levels (476 million tonnes)
• Approximately 41% of July emissions were covered by compliance programmes (CORSIA, EU-ETS and UK-ETS)

Portugal spotlight

As a popular European destination, Portugal's aviation sector demonstrates strong operational efficiency, with several airports and airlines achieving comparatively low emissions intensity levels.

Key observations include:

• Passenger related aviation emissions from Portugal estimated at 572k tonnes of CO₂ during July 2026
• The country ranked as the 29th largest aviation emissions market globally in July and on a year-to-date basis
• TAP Air Portugal was the country's largest airline contributor to aviation emissions over the last 12 months, generating 1.66 million tonnes of CO₂. Despite its size, the airline achieved an emissions intensity of just 55.24g CO₂ per ASK the lowest out of the 10 largest carriers.
• Lisbon Airport was Portugal's largest source of aviation emissions, producing 3.50 million tonnes of CO₂ during the last 12 months.
• Among Portugal's major airports, Madeira Airport recorded the lowest emissions intensity at 56.74g CO₂ per ASK, ahead of Faro Airport (58.38g) and Lisbon Airport (59.92g).

Download this month’s report here

CARE Index

The RDC CARE Index scores any air route, airline and aircraft combination between 0 (worst) and 10 (best) based on fuel burn, seat capacity and load factor, use of sustainable aviation fuel, participation in compliance programmes such as EU ETS, and whether the carrier offsets emissions. It's designed to give both consumers and industry a clear, comparable measure of airline sustainability.

Here are the highest-scoring carriers by region in July 2026:

Full CARE Index rankings across all carriers and regions are available in the full report

Our CO₂ data which powers our monthly report has been independently audited and verified and is available via our Scope 3 emissions platform, as a dataset, via an API or as part of a subscription to Apex

Our Scope 3 emissions platform has been developed to allow airports to accurately report upon aviation scope 3 emissions and has now been verified against Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) requirements. If you’d like to find out more get in touch with our team today to discover how RDC can provide the insights you need to stay ahead of environmental regulations and improve your sustainability efforts.

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