Do We Really Need Airport Expansion?
Many UK airports have drafted significant expansion plans but some people are asking ‘is airport expansion really necessary?’
The demand for air transport has seen a rapid growth over the past 8 years, largely due to two basic factors: People, generally, have more disposable income and low cost airlines have made the price of tickets have fallen dramatically. Forecasts have suggested that air travel could treble over the forthcoming 30 years.
Environmental scientists have issued stark warnings about the detrimental impact that air transport has upon global climate change, local air quality and the quality of life of people living near airports. The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, the Environmental Audit Committee and the Sustainable Development Commission all strongly oppose airport expansion plans.
One of the key arguments presented by those in favour of expansion is that it is necessary to support local economic growth. For example, this was the argument used to overturn restrictions at Aberdeen Airport which had previously meant that aircraft could not use the airport between the hours of 22:30 and 06:00, due to the noise impact upon local residents. This restriction has now been lifted and aircraft can now use the airport 24 hours a day. Local residents have to bear the noise and disturbance that this is causing. The runway at Aberdeen airport is now being extended to accommodate larger aircraft which will bring more passengers and potentially more money for local industries.
But does economic growth justify the environmental impact of airport expansion and more aircraft in the air?
Cheap flights have made it easy for people to fly abroad where they then spend their hard earned cash. This has resulted in a tourism deficit of around £10 billion that people spend overseas. Unfortunately the UK doesn’t receive anywhere near this amount from tourists coming to the country. In some ways this may be seen as a good thing as wealth is transferred from the wealthy west into developing parts of the world. But in the current economic climate many UK businesses really need as many customers as they can get.
Today over 25% of all aircraft passenger seats are actually empty. Surely it would make more sense to utilise this wasted resource more efficiently. If systems were introduced to ensure that aircraft are actually full, then fewer flights would be required to transport the same number of passengers.
It seems clear that the negative impact of airport expansion is currently being disregarded in favour of the perceived economical benefits that larger airports will bring to local and national economies. But this is a very short-sighted position that is likely to result in unrecoverable damage to the environment, climate and the quality of lives of those living near any of the expanding UK airports.
By Tony Gee
I’m a regular flyer from Scotland’s Glasgow airport where I always take advantage of the excellent Glasgow airport parking facilities. I recently used the Edinburgh airport parking services and found them to be equally excellent. Highly recommended.
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:56 am
In my home area, there is always talk of consolidating 2 regional airports to serve both cities from a central location. Those hopes are always stalled as neither of the cities want to give up their perceived economic benefit of having their own local airport.
October 12th, 2009 at 7:51 am
I heard recently that the Conservatives would increase taxes on flights in order to reduce the amount of people travelling, but this would just hurt the common person, who looks forward to his summer holiday very much! It is difficult to see how we can sustain this growing demand for flights. I feel sorry for those living near airports, but not sure what other strategies would help beyond increasing airport size. I hope the rail system can ultimately be improved upon and made cheaper. This could alleviate some problems for those wishing to travel on low-cost airlines around UK or to France.