Memorandum from British Airways plc
INTRODUCTION
1. British Airways welcomes the opportunity
to submit evidence to this Environmental Audit Committee inquiry.
British Airways is the UK's largest airline, providing passenger
and freight services from London and regional airports to 157
destinations in 75 countries. In terms of passenger kilometres
travelled, we are the fifth largest airline in the world and the
largest outside the United States. British Airways employs around
50,000 employees worldwide, with 85% of them based in the UK,
and generates annual revenues of £7.7 billion (2002-03).
2. British Airways seeks to promote and
enhance aviation's contribution to sustainable development, recognising
that sustainability must strike a balance between economic, social
and environmental objectives. We have a strong record of addressing
environmental impacts of our operation and have reported annually
on our environmental performance since 1990. We play an active
part in national and international efforts to reduce the problems
of aircraft noise and emissions and have taken a number of voluntary
initiatives to improve our environmental performance, including
commitment to a 30% fuel efficiency improvement between 1990 and
2010 and participation in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme.
PRE-BUDGET
REPORT 2003 AND
THE AIR
TRANSPORT WHITE
PAPER
3. In its 2003 Pre-Budget Report, the Treasury
made clear that the Government's approach to addressing the environmental
impact of aviation would be set out in the Air Transport White
Paper, which was published in December 2003. The White Paper has
been welcomed by British Airways and other UK airlines. In particular,
British Airways welcomes the government's support for a third
runway at Heathrow Airport to open between 2015 and 2020, as long
as this development can meet legal limits on nitrogen dioxide
emissions.
4. British Airways also broadly supports
the White Paper's approach to dealing with the major environmental
impacts of aviation. In particular:
— the framework for limiting airport
noise is based on the ICAO "balanced approach", which
recognises the need for a combination of four elements—reduction
at source, better land use planning, operational procedures and
operational restrictions;
— measures to improve air quality
around airports should address emissions from local road traffic
and airport ground vehicles, as well as limiting NOx emissions
from aircraft; and
— emissions trading now forms the basis
of the UK's approach to limiting global warming impacts from aviation,
starting with the incorporation of intra-EU aviation CO2
emissions into the EU Emissions Trading Scheme from 2008. This
is in line with the approach advocated by British Airways in the
run-up to the White Paper (see Annex for more detail), supported
by our involvement in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme.
5. British Airways is keen to work alongside
Government to ensure that emissions trading can be introduced
for European aviation without distorting international competition
or imposing unreasonable cost burdens on airlines. We will also
use our influence to promote this approach within industry bodies—such
as the Association of European Airlines. We continue to believe
that emissions trading is the best means of establishing a long-term
framework through which aviation can limit its contribution to
greenhouse gas emissions.
February 2004
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