Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Deferred
Incentivise airlines to use aircraft reducing non-CO2 emissions and consult on fleet age
Recommendation
The Government should set out in its response to this report what work and research it is supporting to reduce non-CO2 emissions that damage air quality around airports. It should also confirm whether it has identified which current aircraft have the least impact on air quality around airports. We recommend that the Government should consider incentivising airlines 43 to utilise airplanes that use technology or techniques that reduce such emissions. This should include consulting the aviation industry within six months of this report on the feasibility of reducing the age of the fleet. (Recommendation, Paragraph 51)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government deflects the recommendation regarding non-CO2 emissions and local air quality around airports by focusing its response on carbon pricing mechanisms (UK ETS, CORSIA), decarbonisation targets, sustainable aviation fuels, and global action for achieving net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
The UK has played a leading role for many decades in developing global emissions standards through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). ICAO standards limit emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), particulates and some other air pollutants from aircraft engines. The UK is playing an active role in ICAO’s review of its existing NOx emissions standard that will make recommendations in 2028. The Government is supportive of airport initiatives which incentivise the use of cleaner aircraft. Some airports, including Heathrow, set landing charges which include an element based on an aircraft’s certified NOx emission levels. NOx emissions are also one of the criteria in Heathrow’s Fly Quieter and Greener airline league table. Evidence shows that the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can also significantly reduce particulate emissions, so Government support to encourage the production, development and use of SAF in the UK may also help to reduce air quality impacts around airports.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗