Climate Groups Demand Gatwick and Luton Airport Expansion Decision is Delayed

Eight climate groups have signed an open letter urging the new Transport Secretary to pause decisions on whether to expand Gatwick and Luton airports. 

The campaign groups, including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, want the Government to hold off while they review Britain’s “outdated” aviation policies. 

Climate charity Possible backed the open letter on Tuesday, alongside several prominent NGOs including the progressive New Economics Foundation think tank, writing to the new Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander to demand a halt to the airport expansion decisions. 

On Wednesday, the Transport Secretary announced that she would delay the decision on Luton Airport expansion by three months, to 3 April 2025, so she could have more time to consider the application. Owner Luton Borough Council wants to increase the airport’s annual capacity from the current 18 million passengers to 32 million.

Climate groups argue any airport expansion would significantly increase carbon emissions, “posing a direct threat to the UK’s ability to meet its legally binding climate targets.”

And the signatories say the proposals are “incompatible” with the recommendations of the Climate Change Committee and the UK’s climate targets.

The expansions are subject to Development Consent Orders (DCOs) and require sign off from the Transport Secretary. 

Existing air-travel policy frameworks in England – the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) and the Making Best Use (MBU) policy – are outdated, the letter argues, as they were before the UK’s legal commitment to Net Zero in 2019. 

And the NGOs argue airport expansion risks undermining the Government’s Clean Growth Plan.

Britain’s Climate Change Committee (CCC) has consistently advised the Government that airport expansions should not proceed unless the aviation sector demonstrates it is outperforming its anticipated progress in reducing emissions – a condition that, according to the NGOs, has not been achieved.

They also argue the economic case for airport expansion is getting weaker, as the growth in air travel is “now driven primarily by leisure travel, which contributes to the UK’s current account deficit rather than bolstering economic strength.” 

The Government and aviation industry appear to be relying on “speculative technologies” outlined in a so-called Jet Zero strategy, such as alternative fuels and zero-emissions aircraft, which remain unproven at scale. Climate groups caution against “locking the UK into unsustainable emission levels” that conflict with climate goals.

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The new Government recently upheld restrictions on weekend flights at London City Airport – but rubber-stamped an increase in passenger numbers at the airport. 

Possible, and the other signatories, are urging the Government to align its aviation policies with the CCC’s recommendations and Britain’s next upcoming ‘carbon budget’, before approving projects that could derail the UK’s Net Zero ambitions.

Alethea Warrington, Head of Aviation, Heat, and Energy at climate charity Possible, commented before Heidi Alexander’s announcement of a delay on Luton expansion, saying: “The new Government should be laser focused on effective policies to tackle the climate crisis. It is therefore mind-blowing that we are now facing the serious risk that further airport expansions will be approved.

“Airports’ plans to expand benefit only their shareholders and airlines’ profits, encouraging the small proportion of the population who fly often to take even more frequent holidays, at the expense of our climate.

“If the UK is going to fulfil our climate commitments, we need to say no to polluting, high-carbon projects like airport expansions.”

Alex Chapman, Senior Economist at the New Economics Foundation added that the economic case for airport expansion was weak: “There has been no net growth in air travel for business purposes for two decades. The large majority of new airport capacity is used by UK-resident frequent flyers who travel for leisure and spend their money overseas. 

“Encouraging households to spend more of their precious disposable income abroad is counterproductive for the Government’s growth mission. I just hope we don’t approve these expansions then sit around scratching our heads as to why UK high streets and our domestic tourism destinations are in decline.”

Paul Kehoe CBE, Independent Chair of Luton Rising, the Luton Council company that owns London Luton Airport, expressed his “disappointment” at Heidi Alexander’s delay.

“This is now the third delay for a decision and naturally we are disappointed as we are ready to move forward with our plans as quickly as possible and bring in investment to start delivering the benefits. Equally we want to ensure the decision-making is robust so stand ready to provide any additional information that might be requested of us.

“Our application highlights how the long-term sustainable growth of London Luton Airport will bring incredible and transformational economic, employment and positive social impact benefits for Luton and the neighbouring regions,” Kehoe said in a statement.

See below for the full letter.

Open Letter in Full

Dear Secretary of State for Transport,

Congratulations on your appointment. In the next two months, you will be expected to make significant decisions on applications for Development Consent Orders (DCOs) to expand two major airports – Luton and Gatwick. We are deeply concerned that the significant increase in carbon emissions that these expansions will generate will undermine the UK’s ability to meet its legal carbon budgets, environmental goals and Net Zero plans, and erode the savings envisaged in the Government’s Clean Growth Plan. It will also bring unacceptable levels of noise, air pollution and disruption for local communities.

We believe that it is premature to take a decision on these two DCOs until the Government’s overall airports planning framework has been reviewed and updated. Planning authorities have been left reliant on the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) and Making Best Use (MBU) as statements of Government policy, both of which were written before the UK legislated for net zero and before the Government committed to formally include International Aviation and Shipping in the sixth carbon budget. Leigh Day, on behalf of AEF, has written to the previous Government and your Department requesting that these documents be reviewed as a matter of urgency.

Since Net Zero became law in 2019, the Climate Change Committee has repeatedly advised the Government that there should be no airport expansion unless the aviation sector is on track to reduce emissions. Given the slow adoption of alternative fuels and the disparity between current carbon pricing and the values relied upon to inform the Government’s strategy, there is no evidence to show that condition has been met. The CCC’s advice on the seventh carbon budget, due at the end of February 2025, is a further reason to delay any decision. 

We would also welcome a fresh look at the claimed economic benefits of aviation. Compelling new evidence shows that corporate air travel has declined in recent years, undermining the industry’s claim that expansion drives business productivity and trade. In fact, most of the growth in air travel is from the outbound leisure market, which increases the UK’s current account deficit and weakens our international investment position. The recent era of national economic stagnation was marked by extraordinarily rapid growth in air passenger numbers and decline in the overnight domestic tourism industry, prevailing assumptions about airport expansion’s contribution to growth must urgently be scrutinised.

The UK’s Jet Zero strategy for aviation is built around assumptions that substantial increases in alternative fuels and carbon removals will scale significantly after 2030. There are also assumptions that improvements in efficiency will occur at a rate far faster than has been historically recorded. As proponents of climate action, we support the development of new, clean technologies to help in the decarbonisation of aviation.

However, the supply of alternative fuels remains low, with serious concerns on scalability, and there is no policy plan in place to deliver technological advances such as zero-emissions aircraft or permanent greenhouse gas removals.

In short, the Jet Zero Strategy greenlights a huge increase in passenger numbers and air miles flown, while relying on nascent technologies that are resource-intensive, expensive and untested. We fear that this approach will lock in high levels of aviation emissions which are simply not compatible with the UK’s climate targets. 

The Government has already shown a commitment to protecting communities from aircraft noise in the decision not to lift the weekend restrictions on flights at London City Airport. However, we were disappointed that in granting the airport permission to expand its passenger numbers, the Government went against the Climate Change Committee’s advice. 

We urge you to consider a serious review of the central planning guidance documents around aviation, and to take into account the CCC’s advice and its upcoming recommendations for Carbon Budget 7, before taking any decision to expand airports which will surely throw all these targets into disarray.

Yours sincerely,

• Aviation Environment Federation
• Possible
• New Economics Foundation
• Friends of the Earth
• Greenpeace
• Climate Catalyst
• Opportunity Green
• Green Alliance

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