Key facts
- Heathrow airport expansion should be conditional on airlines paying for carbon dioxide removal, according to the UK's Climate Change Committee (CCC).
- The CCC warned that building a third runway would breach UK carbon budgets and make net-zero targets impossible without industry action.
- The committee suggested airlines must improve efficiency, use more sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), and fund carbon removal.
- A return flight to Alicante could cost an extra £150 by 2050, or £400 to New York, due to SAF and carbon removal costs.
- Frequent flyers, who represent 5% of the population, account for a third of all flights abroad.
- The Department for Transport is investing £219 million in SAF production and £43 million in cleaner aviation technologies.
The UK's independent climate advisers have stated that expansion of Heathrow airport should only be permitted if airlines commit to paying for carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) warned in a report on Wednesday that building a third runway and new terminals would breach the UK's carbon budgets and make achieving the 2050 net-zero target impossible under current policies.
The CCC proposed that the aviation industry must become more efficient, increase its use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), and fund the permanent removal and storage of atmospheric carbon. Nigel Topping, chair of the CCC, emphasized that the government cannot approve Heathrow's expansion without mandating the aviation industry to fully address its emissions, either directly or through purchasing engineered removals, invoking the "polluter-pays principle."
These additional costs for SAF and carbon removal are projected to be passed on to passengers, potentially adding approximately £150 to a return flight to Alicante and around £400 to a flight to New York by 2050, with these costs phased in over 25 years. However, environmental campaigners like Friends of the Earth have criticized the CCC's reliance on nascent technologies, arguing that SAF and carbon removals are unproven and unlikely to scale sufficiently to justify airport expansion. They called for a halt to all airport expansion.
The report also highlighted the unequal distribution of air travel, noting that frequent flyers disproportionately contribute to emissions. In England, about half of people fly abroad annually, while a quarter of the population takes two or more flights. Those in the highest income group took 38% of all international flights. The CCC suggested that policies addressing emissions should consider these inequalities, though it stopped short of recommending a frequent flyer levy.
Heathrow Airport stated that expansion must deliver both economic growth and net zero, acknowledging that key solutions already exist. Airlines UK, however, argued that the CCC's proposed measures are unaffordable and would restrict travel for many. The industry body advocates for affordable SAF, airspace reform, and scaled-up carbon removals. The government is not bound by the CCC's advice but has indicated that any expansion proposal must align with net-zero targets, while also investing in greener aviation technologies.