Saudia Airlines has been fined €1.4m (US$1.6m) for breaching EU carbon emissions rules, making it the first big non-EU carrier to be fined for breaking EU regulations, as the Belgian government fines €100 for every EU Emissions Trading System they failed to submit. The fine on Saudia applies to all of its intra-EU flights, since airline operators report to one authority only.
When the EU included aviation in the emissions trading scheme there was talk of a trade war and following months of talks the EU changed its legislation to apply only to flights within the EU, rather than the entire length of flights in and out of EU airspace, which included EU flights carried out by non-EU operators.
In fact the European authorities have been very relaxed until now about breaches in reporting - The German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt) only earlier this year published a list of 44 non-compliant operators it fined for not surrendering carbon allowances in 2012, which included Air Berlin.
The government of Saudi Arabia told its state-run airline not to comply with EU ETS and this is the predictable result.