The environmental effects of aviation in the United Kingdom are increasing due to the increasing demand for air travel in the country. In the past 25 years the UK air transport industry has seen sustained growth, and the demand for passenger air travel in particular is forecast to increase more than twofold, to 465 million passengers, by 2030. Two airports; London Heathrow and London Gatwick, are amongst the top ten busiest airports in the world for international passenger traffic. Whilst more than half of all passengers travelling by air in the UK currently travel via the five London area airports, regional airports have experienced the most growth in recent years, due to the success of 'no-frills' airlines over the last decade.
The ability of the existing airport infrastructure to meet forecast demand is limited, and government policy published in 2003 supports the development of additional airport capacity by 2030 to address this. The strategy is generally based on making the best use of existing facilities, although an additional five new runways nationwide are considered to be necessary, three of them at the London airports of Stansted, Heathrow and, towards the end of the timeframe involved, Gatwick. This policy is designed to be a balanced and measured approach to the future of the air transport industry; one that recognises both an economic advantage in providing for growth in demand for air travel and also the need to address the consequent environmental effects. The strategy has been criticised by the House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, by environmentalist and campaign groups, and in research papers, for implementing a predict and provide model that overstates the economic advantages whilst paying insufficient heed to the environmental consequences.
Support for airport expansion is based on an economic case that regards the air transport industry not only as an important industry in its own right, but also as a facilitator of growth for the economy as a whole. One study predicts that the government's strategy will realise an additional £13 billion per annum in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030. Another study which is critical of the government approach, and which favours addressing environmental effects through increased taxation of air transport, indicates a negative economic benefit resulting from airport expansion. In 2006 the industry was responsible for over 6 per cent of all UK carbon emissions, a figure that is set to rise as demand increases. Under current strategies of emissions reduction and growth in air transport, air travel in the UK could account for up to 50 per cent of the UK carbon budget by 2050. Industry attempts to address this issue are longer term efforts based on technological and operational improvements, whilst government policy is based on the inclusion of air transport within emissions trading schemes. Critics advocate a shift in government policy to address environmental effects by constraining the growth in demand for air travel, primarily through the use of economic instruments to price air travel less attractively. Local environmental issues include noise and air quality, and the effects of these, particularly in the case of the former, is subject to debate. Government policy generally is that these are local issues best addressed locally, and has introduced legislation designed to facilitate this.
Air transport framework
Air transport in the United Kingdom is a growth industry. In the period 1981 to 2006 the number of terminal passengers increased by 400 per cent and air transport movements by 250 per cent. Definitions: Air transport movements are landings or take-offs of aircraft engaged on the transport of passengers, cargo or mail on commercial terms. A terminal passenger is a passenger joining or leaving an aircraft at the reporting airport. A passenger travelling between two reporting airports is counted twice, once at each airport. A passenger who changes from one aircraft to another, carrying the same flight number (change of gauge) is treated as a terminal passenger, as is an interlining passenger. A transit passenger is a passenger who arrives at and departs from a reporting airport on the same aircraft which is transiting the airport. Each transit passenger is counted once only and not both on arrival and on departure. Although the transport of freight declined slightly year on year between 2004 and 2006, in the decade since 1996 air freight has increased by 31 per cent. During the period in which government policy was being formulated the number of passengers exceeded 200 million, and in 2006 the industry handled over 236 million passengers (up 3 per cent from the previous year), with nearly 2.4 million air transport movements (up 1.8 per cent).The Future of Air Transport, para. 2.8, p. 23
Infrastructure
Air traffic services for all UK airspace is provided by National Air Traffic Services (NATS), which also provides air traffic control at 15 airports. The largest airport operator is Heathrow Airport Holdings, owner of six UK airports including Heathrow airport. In some cases airport ownership is in the hands of local government authorities rather than private businesses, and the largest UK owned operator, Manchester Airports Group, operator of Manchester Airport, Bournemouth Airport, East Midlands Airport, and Humberside Airport, is owned by a consortium of 10 Manchester area local authorities. Whilst the number of airports in the UK runs into hundreds, many are smaller aerodromes dealing with general aviation rather than air transport. In terms of the latter, statistics are collected from 59 main airports, and the largest concentration of services is located in the London and South East of England areas.
Heathrow is the largest airport in the country, handling over 67 million terminal passengers in 2006, making it the third busiest airport in the world, and the busiest if measured by the number of international passengers. Nearly a third of all overseas residents visiting the UK enter the country via this airport, which also handles more than a fifth of all overseas visits by UK residents. Even though there are no dedicated freight services operating out of Heathrow, the practise of transporting cargo in the holds of passenger aircraft means that this airport still accounts for more than half of all freight handled by UK airports.The Economic Contribution of the Aviation Industry in the UK, p. 33 Gatwick airport, with 34 million terminal passengers, is the second largest in the country, eighth busiest in the world for international passenger traffic, and lays claim to the busiest single runway airport in the world. Between them the five London airports handle nearly 137 million terminal passengers, 59 per cent of the national total.Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London City. Stansted and East Midlands airports have both experienced large growth in freight handling over the past decade, and these two airports are the major hubs for express freight operations.The Economic Contribution of the Aviation Industry in the UK, p. 34
Outside of London and the South East, the use of regional airports has increased dramatically in recent years, with the amount of air traffic using these facilities doubling in the period 1995 to 2005.No-Frills Carriers: Revolution or Evolution?, ch.1, p.8, section 1.32 To illustrate this growth, in the five years from 2001 passenger numbers at the regional airports of Exeter Airport, Bristol Airport, and Newcastle Airport increased by 191 per cent, 113 per cent, and 60 per cent respectively. In the same period the largest airports experienced some of the slowest growth, with Heathrow passenger numbers increasing by 11 per cent, and those of Gatwick increasing by less than 10 per cent. Exeter and Bristol airports changed their names to become 'International' airports in 2000 and 1997 respectively.
Airlines
The majority of all passengers travelling by air to or from the UK are carried by UK airlines, of which there are around twenty-five, and at the end of 2006 the UK air transport fleet numbered 963 aircraft, flying just under 1.2 million flights and averaging over eight hours of flying daily. Together the two largest airlines as measured by passenger numbers; British Airways and easyJet, account for nearly half of the 127 million passengers flown on UK airlines. In terms of capacity, both available and used, British Airways is again the largest airline, whilst easyJet is pushed into third place by Virgin Atlantic. British Airways passenger flights also account for over 50 per cent of all cargo carried by UK airlines, and when combined with its cargo operations the airline carries over 60 per cent of all cargo carried by UK airlines. Capacity is measured in 'seat kilometres', i.e. the number of seats available/used multiplied by the distance flown.
The advent in the mid-1990s of 'no-frills' carriers, such as easyJet, has had a significant influence on air travel in the UK. In 2005 these airlines carried 77.5 million passengers, up from just 4.3 million in 1996.No-Frills Carriers: Revolution or Evolution?, ch.2, pp.4–5, figs. 2.4 & 2.5 They are responsible for the growth of regional airports, operating from 35 airports in 2006 compared to 10 in 1996, and increasing the choice of international destinations, serving 150 in 2006, compared to 12 a decade earlier.No-Frills Carriers: Revolution or Evolution?, Executive Summary, p.2, "The impact of no-frills carriers on airports and in the UK regions" para.1No-Frills Carriers: Revolution or Evolution?, ch.2, p.1, section 2.1 The annual rate of growth in the overall demand for air travel has remained stable since 1975, averaging 5.8 per cent annually.No-Frills Carriers: Revolution or Evolution?, ch.2, p.8, section 2.15 Recent growth is being serviced by the no-frills airlines at the expense of traditional carriers which, since 2000, have experienced flat or declining traffic levels.No-Frills Carriers: Revolution or Evolution?, ch.2, pp.1–3 & pp.7–10No-Frills Carriers: Revolution or Evolution?, ch.3, p.3, section 3.13 & ch.3, p.6, section 3.25 In response, traditional carriers have lowered costs to compete more effectively on price, leading to lower prices on the short haul routes serviced by this sector, especially in business fares.No-Frills Carriers: Revolution or Evolution?, ch.3, pp.3–4 & ch.4, pp.12–13 They have also limited or reduced capacity and in some cases launched no-frills subsidiaries of their own.No-Frills Carriers: Revolution or Evolution?, ch.3, p.4
Passenger travel