Seven air carriers in Korea on Friday signed an accord with the government on reducing greenhouse gases in the airline industry, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air, Air Busan, Jin Air, Eastar Jet and T’Way Air made the pledge at a ceremony in Sky City Convention Center at Gimpo International Airport.

The amount of greenhouse gas emissions from the seven flag carriers is expected to reach 22 million tons in 2020, up from 17 million tons in 2010. By 2050, the amount is expected to reach 37 million tons.

Under the latest agreement, the seven airliners will work toward improving fuel efficiency by up to 2 percent in comparison to the annual average efficiency rate over the past three years, along with other plans.

The ministry said it would give extra points when distributing international traffic rights based on how well the companies followed the agreement to encourage airliners to take a more active part in reducing gases responsible for climate change.

Since 2010, the local airline sector has cut up to 330,000 tons of fuel and more than 1 million tons of greenhouse gases from business-as-usual protections.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)