Farnborough – Counting the Carbon Cost of Airport’s Big Plans
Mail (& others)
aviation movements at TAG Farnborough Airport runs totally counter to the Government’s
renewable energy targets and low-carbon motives in building new eco-towns.
annum. [Planning Application: 09/00313/REVPP Closing date for comments: 27th July
2009]. A flight is two movements, ie. a take-off and a landing, so this is for
a 79% increase on the present permissions. In practice, it could mean a 120% increase
on the actual number of flights when compared to the last 12 months.
applies to the operations rather than to the passengers. Some 2% of movements
are by large aircraft such as Boeing 737s but, for the rest, TAG Farnborough accepts
that typical ‘bizjet’ journeys take 2 to 3 passengers to and from destinations
of which the most frequent is Geneva, with 29% of journeys wholly within the UK.
TAG has not taken an opportunity to comment on my understanding that most such
flights relate to celebrity, sport and leisure use.
to global warming, but the impact of typical bizjet emissions per passenger can
be shown to be 10 times that for taking a comparable scheduled flight in business
class. Factored into the calculation is the enhanced effect of aviation on the
upper atmosphere and the figure has been accepted as appearing to be ‘about right’
by the British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA), of which TAG
is a member.
possibly do?
of us with those for which Farnborough’s bizjet operations are responsible. According
to several websites, the average UK citizen is responsible for the equivalent
of about 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions as his or her personal share of
the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. (Including use of gas, electricity,
public transport, cars, food etc. – and air travel).
III) flying from Farnborough to Geneva and back causes the equivalent of some
6.7 tonnes CO2 to be spewed into the atmosphere (compared with some 660kg flying
business class from Heathrow). That’s more than half of the figure for the average
annual carbon footprint of each of us – trying to do our bit for the planet by
turning off the TV’s standby light.
that, plus all the ground-based operations and buildings.
development with the climate-change impact of having 17,500 more people contribute
to global warming – people with a carbon footprint that is already 3 to 4 times
the average for the human race?
the entire carbon savings of a major eco-town?
flights at Farnborough Airport to 50,000 a year.
and Rushmoor Borough Council is still receiving representations.
the number of annual business flights last month.
take-offs and landings each year.
one plane taking-off every 10 minutes between 8am and 10pm.
1,000 representations so far, the vast majority of which were objecting to proposals.
is expected as the closing date approaches.
raised and we need [to take those into account]."
focusing solely on airport issues, is encouraging residents to have their say.
element of the democratic process and I don’t think Rushmoor Borough Council has
appreciated how widespread the concerns are."
noise, third party risk and housing blight.
transport for the south east.
to apply until 2011. "Any quick review is likely to bring the planning process
into disrepute", it states.
concerned about carbon emissions. (see his letter above)
renewable energy targets and low-carbon motives in building new eco-towns".
we take account of environmental issues yet at the same time ensure that the airport
continues to play an important role in the economy.
already have in place.
its part in the community and is a good neighbour – an airport that is successful
in creating jobs and prosperity in this region."
1) The claim that this extra capacity is needed to serve the London area demand
is absalute rubbish – there is loads of spare capacity to serve the London market
at Biggin Hill, Southend, Cranfield, Cambridge, Oxford with lots of other options
for smaller aircraft – all within an hour or so of the capital.
2) The claims put forward for extra job creation are a joke. Most of the traffic
is for London originated or destined passengers who have no interest in Farnborough
town at all, to handle the extra traffic you need a few more ground staff but
no more fire crew, no more air traffic controllers, a few more engineers perhaps
and that is it. These people/passengers are passing through barely making any
further contribution to the Farnborough economy. All the nbenefits of having the
airport there have already been realised, there is little more to be had on top
with yet more London-based air traffic.
3) Environmental impact – no matter how you disguise the impact with detailed
graphs and charts and noise monitoring surveys etc. a 79% increase in traffic
is 79% more jets taking off from 7:00am through to the late evening forever.
Aircraft are indeed getting quieter over time, but stop pretending that 79% is
not really 79% in practice – the nuisance level will increase dramatically – stop
trying to pull the wool over our eyes with daft statistics.
It’s all about clawring back money for TAG who’s original business plan was flawed.
They knew what the limitations were from the outset and now they want to change
the goalposts because they aren’t making enough money quickly enough. They’ll
just have to make a return on their investment over a longer time.
Stick with the paremeters you were given to work with at the start.