Aviation and Environment News – September 2025
24th September, 2025
‘I have no intention of clipping anyone’s wings. I am not some sort of flight-shaming eco-warrior. I love flying, I always have.’ – Heidi Alexander, Transport Secretary
So what has happened this year in the UK in terms of aviation policy? We’ve put some key events on the timeline below to show the current state of affairs.
The situation in the UK
Is UK aviation approaching a crossroads? There are major policy decisions on airport expansion, airspace modernisation and SAF all coming together alongside the pending new carbon budget delivery plan and airports national policy statement (ANPS) review. However, aviation policy is notoriously complicated and it remains to be seen whether the government decides to treat aviation as a growth-at-all-costs industry, or as a sector that must finally face its climate limits. Adding Heathrow’s 3rd runway back into the mix has only added fuel to an already heated debate.
Taking a step back, what’s the story on airport expansion?
It’s easy to get lost among the various announcements, decisions and speeches as to what has actually happened to airport expansion projects in the UK. Here’s a full rundown of how things have shifted since the start of the year:
- Gatwick: A decision on whether Gatwick’s proposed expansion that would bring their Northern runway into usage was initially due in November 2024. This was pushed to February and then pushed back again to allow further consideration over noise and surface access issues. The project has now been approved by the Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander, on 21st September. It is expected that the decision will be subject to legal challenges from local campaigners.
- Luton: The delayed decision on Luton’s 14 million passenger expansion eventually received approval in April, despite the Examining Authority recommending refusal on environmental grounds – Luton and District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise (LADACAN) has taken the decision to the High Court.
- Stansted: In June, Stansted Airport applied to increase capacity by 8 million passengers per year (mppa), to 51mppa – This is on top of the already confirmed 7.5mppa increase, approved in 2021.
- Bristol: There are ‘not wanted or needed‘ plans to increase Bristol’s capacity from the recently approved 12 mppa to 15 mppa over the next 12 years.
- Doncaster Sheffield: The Government has backed the South Yorkshire Mayor’s decision to invest £30m in reopening the airport, which may reopen in 2026.
- Heathrow: Despite the government’s best attempts to make it appear that approval for a third runway is imminent, no decision can actually be taken until a formal application is made. The government invited proposals by the end of July, with at least two schemes submitted (by Heathrow and the Arora Group), but rumours suggest there may be as many as seven. The Government is currently assessing these schemes to decide on its preferred bid, after which the airports national policy statement will be reviewed to determine if changes are required. It’s unlikely that a formal application can be submitted until the ANPS review, and possible revision, is complete.
As the Guardian put it in response to Gatwick’s approval: ‘Britain’s mantra may not be drill, baby, drill – but with expansion also approved at London’s Stansted, City and Luton airports, it could well be fly, baby, fly’.
AEF’s airport tracker has a full rundown of all the expansion plans in the UK.
How did we get here?
Expansion and other policy decisions are being shaped by how the Government sees public opinion – with both a keenness to show that net zero won’t be restrictive and cause lifestyle changes and a pressure to reassure people that the economy is rebuilding. The result is that airport expansion is firmly wrapped up in the Government’s push for growth.
Often painted as a clash between the economy and net zero, recent coverage has also noted question marks over the potential benefits of expansion, with Heathrow’s plans being labelled as ‘desperate’. It was also revealed that the report which Chancellor Rachel Reeves cited favouring Heathrow expansion was commissioned by the airport. A recent poll showed that more than half of Labour members oppose Heathrow expansion.
For a wider perspective: The decision to expand Gatwick is the perfect excuse for oil giants to ditch green energy
Other UK policy?
There is growing focus on greenhouse gas removals (GGRs) as part of the solution to reaching net-zero by 2050. Aviation as a sector is expected to have significant residual emissions at this point – even if the in-sector reductions planned in Jet Zero materialise – and these will need to be balanced out by removing carbon from the atmosphere. To stimulate investment, the Government has decided to include GGRs in the UK Emissions Trading System (ETS) – our main mechanism for carbon pricing. This may help develop genuine long-term removals technology, although AEF plans to engage further on some of the topics still up for discussion, such as the inclusion of woodland removals and ensuring access to GGRs does not replace genuine decarbonisation of air travel. It was also announced that the UK and EU are working towards linking their respective ETS. It remains to be seen what this will look like in practice, with announcements expected around the end of the year.
Spotlight on: The Climate Change Committee (CCC)
Following the publication of the CCC’s 7th Carbon Budget, we look at who they are, what they do and what the significance of this report is.
You may have seen dramatic headlines emerging following the February publication of the UK’s Seventh Carbon Budget by the Government’s climate advisors, the CCC (see below), but what does this report mean for aviation? And how does this help to unravel the yarn of policy action and inaction that we’re currently seeing from Governments and industry globally?
- The role of citizens in the fight against climate change has never been greater
- UK urged to act now on net zero – and skip two kebabs’ worth of meat a week
- Half of homes need heat pump by 2040, government told
- Everything Labour’s net zero advisers want you to give up
The CCC is an independent public body set up by statute to advise the UK Government on addressing and preparing for climate change. Carbon budgets are interim targets along the way to Net Zero in 2050 that put a cap on the amount of emissions that the UK can emit in a 5-year period. The Seventh Carbon Budget addresses the period of 2038-2042, with 2008-2037 covered by previous budgets. The CCC appointed a new Chief Executive, Emma Pinchbeck, last November.
One of the key messages is that the aviation industry has to pay for the decarbonisation required from the sector. This will lead to higher ticket prices, having the knock on effect of limiting demand. The removal of a key policy, ‘no net expansion without a capacity management framework’ has led to the suggestion that the ‘plan clears path for Heathrow growth’. However, the underlying analysis paints a different picture, as the forecasted passenger numbers recommended by the CCC to be compatible with net zero, can be met with existing airport capacity in the UK. The Government are reportedly yet to consult the CCC over how Heathrow expansion would affect emissions targets.
See the AEF blog for more.
International headlines
Health, climate: three associations take Beauvais airport to court
Legal action against Beauvais Airport, a Ryanair hub to the north from Paris, is the first of its kind in France to tackle health and climate issues together. Beauvais is one of several regional French airports looking to expand, with plans to go from 3.9 to 9.4mppa.
The message from the challenging associations is clear:
‘The extension of Beauvais airport is much more than just a local problem: it is the revelation of a persistent failure in the fight against global warming, and a denial of the deleterious impact of air transport on the health of people living near airports.’
Late night flights are set to be banned at one of Europe’s busiest airports – here’s why
Currently at Lisbon Airport, which is particularly close to the city centre, 26 flights are allowed per night, with 91 per week allowed between 12am and 6am. A ban on flights between 1am and 5am is being proposed but residents are campaigning for a proper 8 hour break.
New stadiums, airports and oil links: the environmental cost of Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup
The 2034 men’s football World Cup will need extensive expansion of airport infrastructure, with the main airport in Jeddah increasing its annual capacity from 43 to 90 million passengers and Abha airport growing from 1 million to 10 million. The newly built Neom International Airport will also have capacity for 20 million passengers. The Conversation goes into a deeper dive on the relationship between fossil fuels and sport.
Flight tax could raise €100bn to tackle climate crisis, study finds
Air travel taxation has been in the limelight again, with calls by the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force (a group of countries looking to raise funds for climate finance) to use levies on the industry to help address the climate crisis. With around 1% of the world’s population responsible for 50% of aviation emissions, levies can help to fund mitigation and adaptation in developing countries. This year Denmark brought in a new air passenger tax, partly to fund their aviation industry’s green transition, whilst in contrast, Sweden cut its own passenger tax that had been in place since 2018.
A new Aviation Minister
In September, Mike Kane MP left his role as aviation minister. It is not confirmed which DfT minister will get the aviation brief at the time of writing but it looks as though Keir Mather MP has taken on the role.
Good news?
Nationwide expansion plans have been under intense scrutiny in the Environmental Audit Committee, with a full inquiry into airport expansion and climate and nature targets underway. There has been some pretty thorough examination of evidence and witnesses, including Mike Kane (the aviation minister), representatives from airports and AEF’s policy manager, Celeste Hicks. We are hopeful that the EAC will hold the Government accountable for properly assessing the environmental impacts of aviation within the context of endless expansion.
Further reading and new reports…
AEF – SAF: Risks identification of Double Counting. Accounting and Areas for Focus
AEF – The Best Use of Scarce Materials: Is SAF the most efficient path to economy-wide decarbonisation?
Opportunity Green – Policy guide to the EU ETS for aviation
Green Alliance – Flying start: establishing the UK as a leader in zero emission aviation
Possible & New Economics Foundation – Flying fair – Modernising the air transport tax system
Campaign for Better Transport – Runways to Railways: unlocking the potential of the Channel Tunnel
Global Solidarity Levies Taskforce – A fair share from aviation. Solidarity levies in aviation: Options for a coalition of the willing
Transport & Environment – Polluter pays? A large share of Europe’s aviation emissions remain unpriced
Transport & Environment – Countries obliged to include aviation contrails in climate plans under Paris Agreement, new legal advice shows
EASA – European Aviation Environmental Report 2025
ICCT – Air and greenhouse gas pollution from private jets, 2023
Cai et al. 2025. Tackling noise pollution in climate adaptation and mitigation: planetary health benefits towards a net-zero future