What we're doing wrong

See the shining sea

25th February 2010

Do people really want to fly? Going by sea and rail isn't as easy as it should be - but it can still be done.

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If you have been following the aviation debate in the UK, you might be inclined to think the expansion at Heathrow Airport is unlikely to go ahead. The Tories have pledged to cancel the expansion should they win this year’s national election (which is likely). Labour’s plan to press ahead with the third runway and a sixth terminal is being challenged in court this week by a coalition including Greenpeace, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), and local councils which would be affected.

But even if Heathrow’s third runway is scuttled, aviation in the UK – and worldwide – continues to expand. Aviation emissions have increased by almost 90 per cent since 1990 and continue to increase. Airports everywhere are growing. Frankfurt is well on its way to finishing construction on a fourth runway by 2015. Birmingham might be selected as an alternative site for a new UK runway for international flights, linked to London via rail. Aviation is the fastest rising source of carbon in Europe.

Far more upsetting to aviation campaigners is the rise in so-called “short haul flights”, covering distances that could be easily traversed by land or sea. Heathrow’s second and third most popular international destinations are Dublin and Amsterdam. The British appetite for flying domestically, even between Liverpool and Manchester – a distance of 53 kilometers – is growing. Currently more than 46 million passengers fly domestically in the UK, and that is rising; carbon emitted from aviation accounts for seven per cent of the UK’s total emissions and this could rise to 25 per cent by 2040. Last year Air Southwest added flights between London and Cornwall, and Eastern Airways between Liverpool and Scotland.

If people can fly cheaply they will. As Labour peer Lord Soley told the BBC this month: “Frankly, people are not going to stop flying. We need to be realistic about that.”

But do people really prefer to fly? Certainly airport hassles, canceled flights, tedious security checks and – last but certainly not least – fear of terrorist attacks and equipment malfunctions doesn’t always make the process an enjoyable one.

A huge problem facing travelers is the lack of financial incentives to travel by sea and land rather than by air. Say I wanted to go to Paris on the weekend of March 12, 2010, returning to London on Monday March 15. By Eurostar: £164.00. By air: I could fly for £90 if I booked today – but could have easily managed to fly for £50 had I booked a month ago. And flying with Europe’s cut rate airlines Ryanair and Easyjet can cost far far less – flights for less than £1 are still easy to find.

There are few encouraging signs that aviation will decline anytime soon. The emerging economies of the world are following Europe’s example. Passenger volume on China’s airlines should rise by more than 12 per cent this year. India now has its own low cost airlines, Go Air and Deccan Airlines, that offer cheap domestic fares – along with the Tata Nano, “the world’s cheapest car,” undercutting the nation’s historic rail networks.

Back in the UK Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has repeatedly said that he aims to replace all domestic flights with high-speed rail options – but he has also repeatedly underlined his support for the third runway. It looks certain to be built by 2020. Hopefully fair pricing schemes will exist by then with higher subsidies for rail and higher taxes for flights to discourage short-haul flights.

Campaigners aren’t giving up, despite the odds. Last year wealthy philanthropists including Emma Thompson and Zac Goldsmith (millionaire publisher of The Ecologist) purchased a parcel of the proposed site for the runway. Greenpeace is so determined to prevent the runway from being built that it plans to construct an “activist base” on the plot, complete with barricades capable of holding back both bulldozers and baton-wielding police. They are currently seeking design proposals for the bunker, which they envision activists living in for many months at a time.

In the meantime people can always choose to stay on the ground. An absolutely fantastic website, The Man In Seat 61, has comprehensive guides on how to travel the entire way without flying – an incredibly handy tool when international freight, ferry and rail timetables can be difficult to navigate.

It’s not always cheaper than flying – but the views certainly are a lot better.

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• Tags:
• Aviation
• Climate Change
• Rail
• Shipping
• The Way We Live

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