Campaign for Better Transport has called on the UK government to ban certain domestic flights and do more to promote rail travel to help tackle climate change.
The national transport charity also believes rail journeys should be made cheaper and domestic flights should feature mandatory emissions labelling at the point of booking.
Under its proposals, all domestic flights where the equivalent train journey is under five hours would be banned, which would include flights between London and Manchester, London and Edinburgh, and Birmingham and Glasgow.
In addition, the group wants to see:
• the introduction of a frequent flyer levy for anyone taking more than three international flights a year;
• an end to all airport expansion until net zero flights are a reality;
• and Air Passenger Duty retained in the upcoming Budget.
With the Budget falling shortly before the UN Climate Conference COP26 in Glasgow later this month, the groups warns that “any cut to APD will damage the UK’s environmental credibility ahead of the international conference”.
“Cheap domestic flights might seem a good deal when you buy them, but they are a climate disaster, generating seven times more harmful greenhouse emissions than the equivalent train journey,” said Paul Tuohy, Campaign for Better Transport’s chief executive.
“Making the train cheaper will boost passenger numbers and help reduce emissions from aviation, but any cut to Air Passenger Duty – coupled with a rise in rail fares in January – will send the wrong message about how the government wants people to travel and mean more people choosing to fly. The government has led the way with bold climate ambitions, now it needs to take similarly bold actions to make those ambitions a reality.”
Last week Campaign for Better Transport's Paul Tuohy and Norman Baker ‘raced’ from London’s Piccadilly Circus to St George’s Square in Glasgow by plane and train respectively. Door to door, the plane journey was only two minutes quicker but released almost seven times as much greenhouse gases.