Originally Posted by
Pain in the R's
While we are all here as we support aviation and Southampton maybe I am the only person here that has real concerns that the world has hit record temperatures last year while England floods this year, Yet Southampton Airport and everyone here wants to increase routes and more than double pollution by burying their collective heads in the sand.
Maybe if the airport had concerns about the environment, instead of trying to get trees cut down maybe they should only allow growth if aircraft pollution doesn’t increase above 2023 so supporting sustainable fuels to show the world they have green credentials. My understanding is that aircraft are the most polluting form of public transport.
I have no doubt the argument is that the difference Southampton could make is so negligible it isn’t worth making the effort. The trouble with that philosophy is that with that attitude nothing will ever change if every company has the same excuse.
Nice to have Dave Angel on the group. No airport currently can take this stance as the technology isn't there to allow it. SAF is just bullsh*t and a convenient sticking plaster that will never allow airlines to be truly "green". Aircraft are becoming greener but it's all a matter of scale. 20-25% reductions are a nice start but considering aviation is about 3% of the problem, even if the industry achieved 100% reduction it would be meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Get China/USA/India/Russia/Japan to make massive reductions in their emissions and we stand a chance. Aviation emissions are a sideshow and distraction to the real problem so get over it. Renewable electric/battery/hydrogen fuel cell technology is the only way that airlines will be truly green. It all costs money and passengers don't want to pay because they've become used to the Ryanair/Easyjet/Wizz marketing b*llocks of sub £50 return flights. The general public needs to accept that a flight to Malaga from London needs to cost £199 return for it to be sustainable economically and environmentally year-round. It ain't gonna happen.