WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Air New Zealand scrapped its 2030 carbon reduction targets on Tuesday, citing delays in the production of new aircraft, a lack of alternative fuel and “challenging” regulatory and policy settings.

The move by the national carrier – one of New Zealand’s biggest companies by revenue – was the most high-profile rollback yet of an airline’s commitments to a UN framework for companies to stay on track to meet the Paris Agreement on emissions cuts, highlighting the obstacles facing airlines and policy makers to reduce emissions from aviation.

“If even Air New Zealand can’t do it, it cements the reality that reducing emissions from aviation is an impossible task under the current technological regime,” said James Higham, an expert on sustainable tourism at Griffith University in Australia.

Tuesday’s update was a sharp reversal from an Air New Zealand 2022 announcement in which it declared itself the second airline in the world to have its plans validated by the UN’s Science Based Targets Initiative framework. It pledged a 28.9% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, from a 2019 baseline, with a 16.3% reduction in absolute emissions.

The airline – which was led until 2019 by New Zealand’s now prime minister Christopher Luxon – was due to begin progress reports on its 2030 emissions targets this financial year.

Air New Zealand said it remained committed to a net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. The airline would set new “near-term” targets for emissions reductions that would “better reflect the challenges related to aircraft and alternative jet fuel availability,” CEO Greg Foran said in a written statement.

The airline declined an interview request from The Associated Press.

Global manufacturing and supply chain issues could slow the introduction of more fuel-efficient planes into Air New Zealand’s fleet, Foran said. “The affordability and availability of alternative aviation fuels” and global and domestic policy settings are also “outside the airline’s direct control,” he added.

His comments reiterated problems facing the aviation sector worldwide. Air travel accounts for about 2.5% of global carbon dioxide emissions, but it is one of the most carbon-intensive activities per passenger. Production of more efficient aircraft is behind schedule and improvements to reduce fuel burn are painfully slow.

“It’s meant to be a very difficult target to reach, but I think one that needs to be there to show everyone what needs to be done,” said Sola Zheng, a senior researcher at the International Council on Clean Transportation who was involved in taking forward SBTi.

The target was strict “unless airlines are willing to slow their growth,” Zheng said.

Other airlines listed in the SBTi database as having “withdrawn” their commitment to near-term emissions targets were United Airlines, German airline Lufthansa, UK easyJet, LATAM Airlines Chile and Japan Airlines.

Analysts have long warned that the volume of sustainable fuel produced is a small fraction of demand.

“There aren’t many incentives for more efficient flights, and increased efficiency usually comes from more efficient aircraft models,” rather than alternative fuels, Zheng said.

In Tuesday’s statement, the airline’s chairman, Dame Therese Walsh, said the airline would renew its “advocacy for the global and domestic regulatory and policy settings” that would help the aviation sector “do its part to mitigate the risks of climate change.”

Air New Zealand’s declaration was a reminder of the challenges and of the need to lean in and help companies “get it done,” Australia’s Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen told reporters after meeting his New Zealand counterpart in Brisbane on Tuesday, without in connection with the airline’s announcement.

“Nobody ever suggested it was easy,” Bowen said. “What it does is underscore the need for governments to be involved.”

Tourism is New Zealand’s second largest export, driven by images of the country’s pristine and scenic views. Air New Zealand’s marketing efforts have often aligned with strategies to sell the country’s “clean and green” profile overseas – including in in-flight safety videos with environmental conservation themes.

Higham, the tourism professor, said the only way for airlines to significantly reduce aviation emissions was to fly less.

“Air New Zealand has really tested everything, sustainable jet fuels and carbon offset programs, and it all sounds good but nothing changes,” he said.