A summer of sourcing CORSIA: What four airline mandates told us about price and readiness

Between July and early August 2026, Abatable ran four separate CORSIA procurements on behalf of four different airlines, each sourcing CORSIA-eligible units for the scheme's First Phase. When we pool what we saw across all four, with every figure aggregated and anonymised, we get a rare view of a market that is still taking shape. Here is what stood out, and why it matters both for airlines preparing to comply and for suppliers deciding where to focus.

A market that repriced mid-summer

The CORSIA market went through a sharp repricing while our procurements were live. First Phase spot prices had drifted down through the first half of 2026 to a record low of around USD 9.50 per tonne in late June, weighed down in part by airlines waiting on the sidelines for regulatory clarity before committing.

That clarity arrived on 17 July 2026, when the European Commission published its proposal to revise the EU Emissions Trading System and set out a continuing role for CORSIA alongside the EU ETS to 2035. The uncertainty lifted, and the benchmark rallied to around USD 13 before settling near USD 12.50 to 12.60. Watching those moves happen in real time, inside live tenders, gave us a very different vantage point from reading a closing index at the end of the day.

Demand is real, and the marketed supply is deep

Interest in supplying these mandates was heavy. Across the four procurements, roughly 38 suppliers offered close to 29 times the qualified demand the airlines were seeking. That depth points to two things at once: there is no shortage of units being marketed as CORSIA supply, but only a portion carry a credible, low-risk route to delivery, and buyers are increasingly focused on that distinction. Airlines are also staggering their purchasing rather than covering their obligations in one move: Two of the four mandates set volume targets that fell short of their full First Phase requirement, a sign that they intend to return to the market for more before the phase closes.

Readiness is the real dividing line

Eligibility and readiness are two different things. What separated one offer from another was how far each had travelled towards becoming a fully labelled CORSIA Eligible Emissions Unit: a Letter of Authorisation from the host country, a corresponding adjustment reflected in that country's reporting, or an insurance backstop where those steps were still pending. Buyers showed a clear preference for units that are already labelled on registries (a process which we've learnt can take a few months until all conditions are met and insurance is secured), or close to it, and for project-specific offers over anonymous baskets, so they can see exactly where their units come from.

Encouragingly, we are also seeing new pipelines emerge for the first time in a CORSIA procurement, in countries such as Ethiopia and Türkiye, alongside the established host nations that moved first on Article 6 and authorisation processes.

Why our pricing view is differentiated

This is the part we think matters most. Public exchanges and index providers give the market valuable reference prices, and they remain an essential part of the picture. But generic benchmarks are often the prices traders use in the wholesale market, and they are not always the price an airline actually pays for project-specific, delivery-ready supply. Because Abatable runs real procurements, we see transaction-level pricing directly: what airlines are genuinely willing to pay, how offers cluster according to their readiness, and how the premium over the published index widens or compresses as the market moves. Our procurement data complements exchange pricing, adding a differentiated layer of price discovery that only comes from being in the room when airlines buy.

A refreshed supply and demand outlook on the platform

Alongside that pricing view, we've recently refreshed our forecast of CORSIA-eligible supply and demand, which airlines, suppliers, and investors can consult directly in the Abatable platform. The CORSIA module lets you explore different growth scenarios, break demand and supply down by country and project type, and look at requirements across both the First and Second Phases of the scheme. Paired with our procurement-derived pricing insight, we built it to help you plan sourcing and origination with a clearer sense of where the market is heading, rather than where it has been.

Working with us

For airlines, we can help you run a competitive, well-structured CORSIA procurement and price it against what the market is really doing. For suppliers, we open access, through our network, to airline mandates you may not otherwise see. To learn more about our CORSIA module, our pricing insights, or upcoming mandates, get in touch with the Abatable team.

Note on sources

We drew market figures from Abatable's four CORSIA Requests for Proposals, run between 1 July and 4 August 2026, aggregated and anonymised. The regulatory reference is the European Commission's proposal to revise the EU Emissions Trading System, published 17 July 2026. CORSIA First Phase spot price levels reflect published market assessments over the same period.