Vince Cable

A row has broken out between British Airways and residents environment groups over BAs claims that NOx emissions at Heathrow are not breaking EU legal guidelines and are mainly attributable to road traffic rather than aircraft. HACAN has said that the figures have been "fiddled" and other environmental groups have strenuously rejected them. The government is carrying out its own tests shortly prior to a decision on the third runway.

Last week MP Vincent Cable also asked the secretary of state in parliament whether CO2 emissions - responsible for global warming - should not be included in assessments of Heathrow expansion.

Hansard extract:

Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham) (LD): To what extent Government decisions on the number of permitted flights at Heathrow are informed by projected levels of carbon dioxide emissions. [66809]

The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Alistair Darling): The current limit of 480,000 air transport movements a year at Heathrow is a condition of the 2001 planning consent for terminal 5 and was fixed primarily on grounds of noise. We believe that the best way of ensuring that aviation contributes to the goal of climate stabilisation is through a well designed emissions trading scheme, which is why we are pressing that in Europe and internationally.

Dr. Cable: I welcome the Government's commitment to the CO 2 emissions trading system, but as it will not become effective until 2012 at the earliest, would not it be useful if the existing cap on flights at our major airports were to serve wider environmental purposes as well as narrow, local concerns?

Mr. Darling: I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's concern about the level of carbon dioxide at Heathrow and other airports, which is due not just to aircraft but also to other activity-the air quality at Heathrow is affected by the amount of traffic, primarily on the M25 and the M4.

A range of things can be done. As the hon. Gentleman knows, the fuel efficiency of aircraft has improved by 50 per cent. over the past 30 years; today's aircraft are about 75 per cent. quieter than in the 1960s. Other measures are being taken at Heathrow to improve air quality and if road pricing is introduced in this country that, too, will reduce the overall level of harmful emissions in the environment. In relation to aircraft, it is important that we do everything we possibly can-whether it be looking at landing charges or the emissions

Vincent Cable said: "The arguments about airport expansion have traditionally been about noise but are now increasingly about pollution. There are clear, statutory, limits for Nox emissions and, whatever goes on in the propaganda war, the industry will have to comply by limiting flights. I am also concerned that the industry must be more directly involved in restraints in CO2 emissions, and this must influence decisions in airport expansion"