HC Deb 19 October 1999 vol 336 cc488-9W
Mr. Blunt

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many passengers passed through the London area airports in the past year; what is his forecast for the year 2015; and what estimate he has made of the number of such passengers who would in the next year if duty were to be imposed on aviation fuel at the same rate as on motor vehicle fuel, assuming a similar rate of tax is imposed by other countries. [93832]

Mr. Mullin

In 1998, 102 million terminal passengers passed through the London area airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London City).

In the DETR 1997 air traffic forecasts, the unconstrained forecast for London area airports (defined there as Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton) is 147 million (low growth) to 212 million (high growth) with a mid point forecast of 184 million.

No specific estimate has been made on the effect of imposing a tax on aviation fuel at the same rate as that on motor vehicle fuel. However, studies have been done by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and for the European Commission, among others, on the effects of applying different tax rates to aviation fuel under different scenarios. In reviewing such studies the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in its Special Report on Aviation and the Global Atmosphere published earlier this year, noted that levies (taxes and charges) could be a means of reducing growth of aircraft emissions by further stimulating the development and use of more efficient aircraft and by reducing growth in demand for aviation transportation. The studies also showed that to be environmentally effective, levies would need to be addressed in an international framework. Consequently further work on market based approaches to limit the growth in aviation emissions is being taken forward by ICAO.

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