Last week, I got an early leak of a press release from the IPPR (Institute of Public Policy Research), suggesting that flights should now carry environmental health warnings in a similar manner to cigarettes.

The IPPR has singled out aviation, and called for measures including:

• Large, and clearly visible warnings, with statements such as “flying causes climate change”.
• Estimates of average emissions for each flight taken.
• A comparative emissions chart between flying and making the same journey by rail or coach.

The first measure is barely worthy of comment, such is its crass stupidity. The second measure looks reasonable enough – airlines such as Flybe have called for an environmental labelling scheme which would make it mandatory for all airlines to provide this information, in much the same way as household appliances have energy star ratings, and car manufacturers must declare their carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption.

The third measure might help consumers to make informed decisions, although we would of course argue that any such comparison must also include the subsidies handed out to the alternative rail journey, so passengers can weigh up the economic and the environmental externalities of the journey.

We continue to be disappointed, although not surprised, that none of these environmental organisations or supposedly intelligent think tanks are calling for similar emissions data to be made available for rail journeys. Whilst we fully accept that rail journeys are generally less polluting than flights, the margins are nothing like as great as claimed, once average occupancy levels and power consumption methods are taken into account.

Recent suggestions that we are a nation addicted on so-called binge flying are easy political soundbites, but has anyone checked growth rates on all other modes of transport, particularly on the roads and railways?

I challenge the Institute for Public Policy Research to run a survey of airline passengers checking in for flights at Stansted, or any other London airport of their choice. I guarantee that every single one of them will say that they enjoy the freedoms which flying brings them. I would also wager that the vast majority would be perfectly happy to accept the principle that the airline industry should pay a fair price for any environmental damage it causes.

Of course, the environmentalists will then argue that if people want to continue travelling, they should do so by less environmentally damaging means, such as by high-speed train. When the rail network is up to scratch, and when we have enough renewable energy to make inter-city train travel’s astonishingly low occupancy rates an irrelevancy, then we would unequivocally support this argument. However, passengers really don’t need the eco-puritans to tell them this – as the figures for modal splits between air and rail between London and Manchester (formerly 40% by rail and 60% by air, now the other way round) since the West Coast mainline upgrade, attest. 

More worrying still is the continued insistence amongst ill informed organisations like the IPPR that aviation taxes should be “raised to cover the environmental damage caused by flying”. At present, widely published figures are available for the cost of carbon dioxide offset for flights, and if the IPPR had bothered to check the references they quote, they would see that these typically range from just 39p (air passenger duty is £10) for a London to Amsterdam flight, up to £23 for a long-haul flight from London to Auckland in New Zealand (air passenger duty £40).

In most cases, the carbon dioxide cost is significantly lower than the air passenger duty, which even the government themselves have acknowledged is an incredibly blunt way to tackle the emissions caused by aviation. If there are additional costs which need to be factored in, such as noise disturbance, then let’s have a full debate over the respective figures. We would also find it far more constructive if the green brigade came up with some sensible proposals for how they would like any extra taxes to be spent, instead of just calling for them to be increased further.

The IPPR then goes on to call for the UK government to work with other EU member states to better integrate the “fragmented” European rail network. Last time we checked, we found that the European network is pretty well integrated – trains such as the Thalys run smoothly between France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, using a combination of dedicated high speed and standard rail thoroughfares. If any rail network needs integration, then we need to look much closer to home. At least we will finally see a major step forward when the new St Pancras International Eurostar station opens in November.

Further follow up:

• Original Flightmapping news article
• Crosswalk.com
• John Birch Society (Flightmapping does not agree with the JBS on just about every other issue!)