Heathrow Airport expansion: Price of flight to New York could become sky high
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Version 0 of 1. A return flight to New York may have to rise by hundreds of pounds if the UK wants to build a third runway at Heathrow and still meet its environmental commitments, according to an analysis of Sir Howard Davies’s airport report. Announcing that a third runway at Heathrow was his preferred option, Sir Howard said that the price of air tickets may need to rise quite considerably if the country was to meet its 2050 goal on aircraft emissions. Adding a “carbon price” to cost of flying should help slow the rise in demand of flights at airports across the UK, greatly increasing the prospect of limiting UK aviation emissions and meeting the green target. But the “carbon price” – to be introduced gradually between now and 2050 – is eventually expected to add between £200 and £400 to the cost of a standard-class return flight to New York, depending on how rapidly engine efficiency can be improved and how widespread the use of green biofuels can become in the industry. The escalating cost of flights associated with the Heathrow expansion was detailed as campaigners strongly criticised Sir Howard’s choice as being by far the worst option for the environment. “Expanding Heathrow would be the worst outcome for the environment. It would lead to the greatest increases in noise, air pollution and in climate-damaging CO2-emissions,” said WWF-UK chief executive David Nussbaum. The UK is on course to exceed its target to limit aircraft CO2 emissions to 37.5 million tonnes a year by 2050 – the same level as in 2005 – whichever option Sir Howard recommended: adding a new runway to Heathrow, extending an existing one, or building a new runway at Gatwick. However, the additional runway at Heathrow puts the country on course to miss the target by the biggest margin – of 8.6 million tonnes a year. The only way the third runway can be built at Heathrow and the target still be met was if significant action was taken to curb demand at airports across the country, Sir Howard admitted. He estimated that demand could be sufficiently reduced if there was a carbon price of £634 per tonne. |