Frequently Asked Questions

Is aviation environmentally inefficient?

A typical charter flight from London to Orlando averages 120 passenger miles per gallon. On a typical holiday route aviation uses more energy than rail but contributes less to air pollution and noise.

Is aviation undertaxed relative to other modes of transport?

There is no VAT on air tickets and aviation fuel istaxed at a lower rate than standard fuel duty. Aviation is however taxed more than Rail or Bus (after Bus Service operatops Grant). Aviation also bears a passenger tax, Air Passenger Duty, which was introduced because aviation was considered undertaxed and for environmental reasons. It should be noted that the tax is currently per passenger and therefore doesn't directly target inefficency or carbon output It generated 1.9 bn last fiscal year - enough to cover the Government's estimate of aviation's external costs. It is being reveiwed with a per plane tax rather than per passenger being in place by Nov 09.

Taxes alone are an unfair indicator of a systems efficency or pollution markers. A study carried out by Volterra in 2002 has attempted to make a comparison between the Air,Rail and Road transport systems. The rport is available here but the figures are out of date. The GBD team is currently attempting to up date these figure to give a fresh comparison of British transport.

Is the environmental impact of aviation significant?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Control (Aviation and the Global Atmosphere, 1999) estimated that aviation contributed 2.4% of man-made carbon dioxide in 1992 (currently c. 3% - or 12.5% of all transport emissions) and that it might grow to 4% by 2050. It also estimated that the climate change impact of aviation-related carbon dioxide was 3.5% of all man-made impacts and that it might rise to 5% by 2050.

What has aviation done to curb its environmental impact?

Fuel efficiency improved by 70% between 1960 and 2000 - a better record than any other transport mode. Between 1990 and 2000 alone, it improved by 20%. Improvements of an additional 20% are projected by 2015 and 40-50% by 2050 relative to today's aircraft. Current research programmes have goals of reducing landing and take-off NOx emissions by up to 70% over today's regulatory standards while also improving fuel consumption by 8-10%, over the most recent production engines, by about 2010. The UK's fleet is one of the world's most modern, and planned replacement of older aircraft could further improve its efficiency by over 30% over the 1990-2012 period.

Jet airliners entering fleet service today are typically 100 times quieter than a comparable aircraft of 30 years ago, cutting noise annoyance by around 75%. Although the number of flights at Heathrow has increased by 60% since 1974, the number of people affected by noise has reduced to one fifth of what it was.

Is reducing demand for air travel the only way to curb aviation's environmental impact?

GBD has identified operational and technological advances that could cut the climate change impact of aviation by 90% over the next 50 years without preventing people from flying - something that could only be achieved with a disproportionate impact on poorer travellers. These, coupled with an industry-Government agreement on targets, leading into emissions trading with a cap on pollution and costs being related to outputs, are clearly the most effective solution.