BAA Contributes To Unsustainable Travel (Saffron Walden Constituency Liberal Democrats)

Saffron Walden Constituency Liberal Democrats <info@saffronwaldenlibdems.org.uk>

BAA Contributes To Unsustainable Travel

April 27, 2008 9:20 AM

Boeing 737 aircraft / aeroplane in flight

Travelling by plane produces almost four times as much carbon dioxide as rail travel, yet Labour has allowed air travel to become cheaper and train travel to become more expensive.

The cost of air travel has halved since 1996 while the cost of travelling by rail has continued to grow, new figures reveal. A parliamentary question by Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker MP, found that the average UK one-way airfare fell from £203 in 1997 to £103 in 2006, while the cost of travelling by train is up 6% in real terms. Travelling by air produces almost four times as much carbon dioxide as using rail.

Peter Wilcock, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesman for Saffron Walden, commented, "Where is the Government's climate change strategy when the cost of flying is being dramatically cut as public transport costs continue to climb? Why has the most polluting form of transport halved in price under this government, while the least polluting has risen significantly above inflation? Cheap flights and sky-high rail fares make it increasingly difficult for passengers to choose the environmentally friendly option. But, with more of the railways' costs being passed on to passengers and aviation still receiving massive tax breaks, this situation is set to get worse."

The prospect of a break-up of airports operator BAA moved closer this week as the Competition Commission said that such a move could lead to increased competition in both the south-east of England and Scotland. In an interim report, the Commission said it was "inclined to the view that common ownership of the BAA airports is a feature of the market which adversely affects competition between airports and/or airlines".

Peter Wilcock, Parliamentary Spokesman for Saffron Walden, concluded, "BAA is part of the problem - not part of solution. It has become complacent and concentrated on lobbying the Government, rather than serving the needs of passengers. BAA should be required to sell some of its airports. In particular it should not be allowed to operate both Heathrow and Gatwick.