The Anonymous Widower

Air Travellers To Be Hit By Carbon Charge On All Tickets

The title of this post is the same as that of an article on the front page of today’s copy of The Times.

• The charge would be added to air tickets on an opt-out basis.
• London to New York would have £30 added or £15 with the most fuel-efficient airline.
• London to Madrid would have £25 added.

It is envisaged the charge would also be added to trains, buses and ferries.

These are some of my first thoughts.

• There will be a lot of opposition to any Government trying to enact this policy, as to most people two weeks in the sun in Spain or a long flight to Australia, are more important than the planet.
• Some nations would never enact a policy like this anyway.
• How would a Government force airlines like Air NeckEnd based in some far-off land to show the charge?
• Trummkopf would consider it anti-American

But I believe that the airline industry, airports and the most of the plane and engine builders are brighter than Donald Trump.

• If you look at the vehicle industry, belatedly it is starting to move towards cars with a lower carbon footprint.
• Innovation is also helping to provide alternative solutions, that are bringing vehicles towards a zero-carbon future.
• Companies like Airbus and Rolls-Royce are spending millions of Euros and pounds to design the airlines of the future.
• New entrants into aviation like Eviation with their Alice electric aircraft are on the verge of flying.
• Airliners are getting more efficient with time.

As a simple example take Ryanair with Boeing 737s and easyJet with Airbus A320s.

• Suppose, one airliner had a higher carbon charge on the London to Madrid route.
• Would this make you choose one airline over the other?
• Possibly! But it would certainly make the plane-maker with the least efficient airliners get its act together, or it wouldn’t sell planes.

I believe that a carbon charge could hasten airliners becoming more efficient!

What About Airports?

I have read articles about airports, where they are aiming to make all their ground operations zero-carbon.

This is possible now with electric vehicles and even electric tugs, that can tow a Boeing 747.

So surely, the carbon generated at the airports involved in a flight should also be taken into account and offset.

What About Getting To And From The Airports?

In the UK, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton, Southend and Stansted are connected by electric transport systems, but Bristol, East Midlands, Glasgow, Leeds and Liverpool are not!

This should generate an appropriate carbon charge.

Surely too, if you are driving your petrol or diesel car to and from the airport, this should be taken into account.

Conclusion

A fairly-applied carbon charge based on the flight, the airport and getting to the airport would help to drive down carbon emissions due to the application of better technology.

July 22, 2019 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Airports, carbon Offset, Flying, Global Warming/Zero-Carbon