Air travel bill targets pollution
June 28, 2005
New controls aimed at tackling noise and pollution caused by air travel are expected to be backed by MPs.
Ministers say the Civil Aviation Bill will help resolve tensions between the growing demand for air travel and the concerns of those living near airports.
Greater powers to allow airports to tackle noise and set charges based on local pollution are among the measures.
The Tories said the bill was a "hotch-potch of all sorts of loose ends".
And the Lib Dems said that although they would not oppose the bill at second reading they hoped to "insert some backbone" into the legislation during the coming committee stage.
Deficit
"Freedom to fly must be balanced with freedom from environmental damage - at present this Bill does not balance these freedoms," said Liberal Democrat spokesman Tom Brake.
Among its measures, the Civil Aviation Bill aims to address a £9m deficit in the Air Travel Trust Fund.
This is aimed at ensuring tourists are not left stranded if airlines go bust by giving the Civil Aviation Authority power to impose a levy to replenish the fund.
For the Tories, transport spokesman Alan Duncan cast doubt as to whether the fund was really needed anymore.
He argued that, with the advent of budget carriers, fewer than two thirds of air travellers enjoyed its protection compared to 98% in 1997.
"Anybody who books a flight through a tour operator as part of a package is protected by the trust fund but somebody who books through the internet ... is not," he said.
Mr Duncan went on to quote Friends of the Earth saying that if it continued to grow at current rates, aviation would wipe out all emissions savings made in other sectors of the economy.
'Hotch-potch'
"What we actually have here (in the Civil Aviation Bill) is a strange collection of miscellaneous pieces of mopping up," he said.
"It's a hotch-potch... It has a bit on noise, it's got a bit on emissions and a bit on ensuring against corporate failure.
"But none of it really coheres into convincing overall shape."
Mr Ladyman said he had a growing airport in his South Thanet constituency.
"I understand the tension that can arise in a community that, at one and the same time, wants to see the local airport succeed and create local wealth but which also is concerned about noise and pollution," he said.
"This bill will help resolve those tensions."
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