A new report from the UK Department for Transport, setting out its responses to the Committee on Climate Change's 2009 report on reducing carbon dioxide emissions from aviation by 2050, includes in its proposals the possibility of not allowing any new runways to be built in the UK before 2050.
This is bound to cause controversy, given that the Coalition government's decision to scrap the planned third runway at London Heathrow and not allow any new runways at London's Stansted or Gatwick airports has already caused industry stakeholders to warn of business being lost to airports such as Amsterdam Schiphol and Frankfurt.
In a separate forecast, the DfT has downgraded the expected annual number of passengers to pass through UK airports by 2030 to 335 million from the 450 million anticipated two years ago. This takes into account "airport capacity constraints, under the 'max use' capacity scenario", says the report.
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The UK government aims to adopt what it calls a Sustainable Framework for UK Aviation by March 2013, and is seeking responses to its proposals from stakeholders.
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