Granting Luton airport expansion is a dangerous gamble with the climate, says Aviation Environment Federation

3rd April, 2025

In response to today’s news that Rt Hon Heidi Alexander MP, Secretary of State for Transport, has approved Luton Airport’s application to raise its passenger capacity from 19 million to 32 million per year, AEF says that the decision puts the Government’s legally binding climate goals at risk and will bring more noise misery to local communities.

The Government’s stance on airport capacity is at odds with the Planning Inspectorate’s recommendation to refuse permission on environmental grounds, and the recommendations of its statutory climate advisers, the CCC. In its Seventh Carbon Budget, published in March, the CCC paints a clear picture for the future direction of air travel: demand for UK air travel will need to stay at around today’s level for the next decade to allow decarbonising technologies to develop and scale. The Climate Change Committee argues that passenger numbers should grow no more than 2% by 2035. Today’s approved expansion represents a sizeable proportion of that growth, even before expansion plans at Gatwick and Heathrow are considered. And even by 2050, the level of airport passenger growth considered by the CCC to be compatible with meeting climate goals can be met by the current UK capacity [2]. 

Instead of adhering to the advice, the Government seems to be sleep-walking into the irresponsible and unjustifiable decision to let UK airports expand beyond what is environmentally safe. 

The Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), published in 2018, endorsed a 3rd runway at Heathrow, and the Government has invited Heathrow to confirm its plans for expansion by the summer. However, Heidi Alexander has said she is ‘minded to approve’ Gatwick Airport’s expansion but delayed the final decision until October. Given that the Government has indicated that the ANPS will be reviewed in the autumn, potentially answering some of these issues, it begs the question why has Luton been granted the go ahead now?

Just this week, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has launched a cross-party investigation into whether airport expansion is compatible with the UK’s environmental goals. This includes looking at the failure to scale sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) to a level that effectively offsets aviation emissions. 

There is currently no credible pathway to decarbonise flying in the near-term. Allowing further expansion before we have an answer on how to reduce the sector’s climate impacts is putting the cart before the horse. Any expansion at this time is a huge environmental gamble, with uncertain economic prospects, and exposing many local residents to higher levels of noise and air pollution.”

Tim Johnson, director of AEF

AEF advises that the Government pauses all consideration of airport expansion until the UK aviation industry can prove that it is decarbonising at a rate that makes expansion safe and addresses local noise and pollution concerns. 

Available for comment:

Tim Johnson, Director AEF – tim@aef.org.uk 

Celeste Hicks, Policy Manager AEF – celeste@aef.org.uk 

Notes to editor:

[1] The Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) campaigns on aviation’s impacts for people and the environment, including noise, air pollution and climate change. We represent impacted community groups throughout the UK, and aim to secure effective environmental regulation of the aviation industry at national and international levels.

[2] The CCC believes that passenger numbers should be limited to 402m by 2050, and AEF analysis shows that this passenger growth can be served by current capacity: