Airport News
Airport expansion 'should be suspended'
Fri, 23 May, 2008
The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) has argued that UK airport expansion be put on hold for the time being.
Hugh Raven, who authored a report for the SDC, said questions still remain over the economic and environmental arguments for airport expansion.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said plans for expansion at London Heathrow Airport and London Stansted Airport, among others, should be delayed until an independent review is carried out.
He said the data on the positive economic impact of aviation is "heavily contested".
"The environmental data is also very heavily disputed ... both with respect to noise and localised air pollution and crucially climate change," Mr Raven added.
As such, the government should not base its decision on airport expansion on "such shaky foundations".
Foreign secretary David Miliband recently told BBC Two's Newsnight that reducing carbon emissions cannot be achieved by just focusing on aviation.