Pie in the Sky

3rd November, 2006

Friends of the Earth published a report in Sep 06 which debunks the claims of the industry about the economic benefits of air travel and concludes that the costs of expansion actually outweigh the benefits.

The report is divided into 3 main sections:
1) ‘Over-egging the pudding’ – exaggerating the benefits, eg inflating GDP gains, double-counting jobs
2) ‘Turning a blind eye’ – ignoring the economic costs of environmental damage
3) ‘Beggar thy neighbour’ – ignoring the economic costs to other sectors of the economy, eg UK tourism

For more information visit the FOE web site:
Press release
Full report
Summary report