A-Z of Aviation and the Environment

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Aviation is the fastest growing transport mode. In the UK passenger numbers have increased by 310% in 25 years, and the number of flights by 166%. The DfT forecasts that by 2020 the number of passengers using the UK airports will be around 400 million, compared to 200 million today – a doubling.

While some analysts believe the rate of growth will slow down in Europe as the market reaches maturity (with the biggest increases being in the Asia-Pacific region), the demand is such, that even relatively small percentage increases will have large airport and airspace capacity implications: to meet demand in the UK, airport capacity will be required on a scale equivalent to a new Stansted airport (based on its current passenger throughput) opening every year for the next 20 years.

Worldwide, under the high growth scenario used in the IPCC’s (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Special Report on Aviation and the Global Atmosphere, it is estimated that the equivalent of 1300 new international airports of 15 gates each will be required by 2050 at the rate of two a month. A doubling in the commercial aircraft fleet is also predicted by Boeing with an estimated 31,750 aircraft being in service by 2019.

Such a high rate of growth poses grave threats to the local and the global environment.