The UK government has increased airport tax reportedly because of the damage caused to the environment by aviation. This is muddled thinking. Business people need to travel - the video conference never really took off - and if they are discouraged from flying on domestic journeys because of tight company budgets they will drive: rail travel is perceived as unreliable.
That means more singly occupied, gas-guzzling company cars that produce far more pollution per passenger-kilometre than aircraft. It could end in demands for more toll motorways, which would take a greater toll on the environment than additional runways.
Steven Stott
Source: Flight International
