ABC Australia

Delegates at the Copenhagen climate change conference are being told that the price of air travel has to rise as the world meets the challenge of capping carbon emissions and keeping temperatures from rising.

A report by Britain's Committee on Climate Change (COCC) suggests the airline industry can grow by as much as 60 per cent by 2050 without affecting the country’s ambitious climate targets.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised to cut carbon emissions by 80 per cent on 1990 levels over the next 40 years.

Heathrow in London is the busiest airport in the world – 70 million passengers transit through there every year.

In 2008, the British government proposed an increase of 140 million passengers a year, with the addition of a third runway.

Green groups lobbied hard to stop the Heathrow expansion. The airlines, the airport and the government hit back, insisting that a healthy aviation industry was the essential ingredient for a thriving economy.

After a long wait the COCC has published its report on whether the UK’s aviation policy should be given wings.

via Aviation on agenda at climate conference – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).