Action: Stop airport expansion now
On 28th January 2025, in the midst of a climate emergency, Chancellor Rachel Reeves gave the green light to a third runway at Heathrow, with the statement ‘growth trumps everything’. However, the Government’s climate advisors, the Climate Change Committee, spelled out in their 2023 report that more airport capacity is “incompatible” with national net zero targets.
The chancellor is under fire after a study cited as evidence for expanding the terminal to boost the UK’s economic growth was ordered by Heathrow itself.
Meanwhile London's other airports have plans to expand: Stansted's terminal expansion is set to start this year. Gatwick airport is due a government decision on expansion by 27 February. A decision on Luton airport's expansion, including plans for a new terminal, is due by 3 April.
In total these expansions could create capacity for more than 60 million extra passengers by the 2040s. New Economics Foundation analysis shows that if expansions at four UK airports including Heathrow are allowed to go ahead, they will cancel out the carbon savings of this government’s clean power plan in just 5 years.
See more facts below.
The Problem
Aviation currently accounts for around 9% of UK CO₂ emissions (and 2-2.5% globally) and remains one of the fastest growing sources of CO₂ emissions in the world.
The richest 1% of the world’s population (the 'super emitters') cause more than 50% of global flight emissions.
3x as many tourists leave the UK as come in, so more money leaves the UK from outbound flights than is spent by incoming tourists.The UK runs a huge tourism deficit, with tourists from the UK spending £41 billion ($51bn) more abroad than tourists from elsewhere bring in.
A return flight from London to Bangkok can generate more emissions than you would save going vegan for a whole year.
Flying economy from London to Paris generates 27 times the CO₂ emissions of making the same journey by Eurostar (53 kg compared with 2 kg for a one-way trip).
In 2023, the Royal Society found that to grow enough crops – biofuels – to make all UK aviation fuel sustainable would require about half of UK agricultural land.
The previous government only planned for 10% of jet fuel to be sustainable by 2030, which its official advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), says is already ambitious. So far we’re at 1.2%, and a long way off. Read more about the UK's empty targets for Sustainable Aviation Fuels SAFs.
Heathrow facts
Heathrow is already the UK's busiest airport, serving more than 80 million travellers a year. Flight numbers could increase from 480,000 to 720,000 a year, or nearly 2,000 a day on average.
A third runway would create an estimated additional 4.4m tonnes of CO₂ a year, driving the climate crisis which is supercharging extreme global weather disasters.
It would mean demolishing hundreds of homes, diverting rivers, and re-routing the M25 motorway between junctions 14 and 15 through a tunnel under the new runway
It would devastate local wildlife and resident's mental and physical health with noise, and pollutants such as ultrafine particles (UFP). In a study published in Environment International research from King’s showed London already has the highest concentration of UFP compared to other cities.
It would result in the UK being in breach of its legally binding carbon budget to meet its 2050 net zero emissions target.
Tim Johnson, the director of the Aviation Environment Federation, said: “Heathrow’s third runway would be one of the most destructive infrastructure projects this country has ever considered. Heathrow is already the UK’s biggest carbon emitter so adding a third runway, and green lighting other airport projects, will leave our climate targets out of reach."
Your mission
should you chose to accept it
Please select a timescale that suits you…
Under 5 mins
Tell Chancellor Rachel Reeves: Don't put profit before planet with this Friends of the Earth petition.
Tell Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves to stop Heathrow airport expansion with this 38 degrees petition.
Under 30 mins
Follow FlightFreeUK and learn more about SAFs, or sustainable aviation fuels.
Pledge to take the #FlightFree2025 challenge and cut your personal carbon emissions. Find advice and join others to inspire environmental, social and system change.
Share some of the facts above on your social media to spread the word about how catastrophic airport expansion will be, and point people towards this page of action.
You could use the hashtags:
#nonewrunways
#staygrounded
#togetherfortheclimate
#trainsnotplanes
#taxtherich
Find news on current airports expansion plans and learn more about aviation’s impacts for people and the environment:
Under 1 hour
Write directly to your MP opposing your local airport expansion, and calling for a UK wide ban on further airport expansions.
Sign the petition to halt all airport expansion across the UK.
Follow a local group opposing airport expansion:
BAAN - Bristol Airport Action Network
CAGNE - Communities against Gatwick Noise Emissions opposing the proposed runway expansion.
Farnham Noise Group - Raising issues resulting from Farnborough Airport’s operations and changes to its airspace.
GALBA - Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport
HACAN East - Against the expansion of London City Airport
Stop Heathrow Expansion - Fighting to stop the third runway.
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