Press Release – Embargoed until 00.01 Thursday 10th December

Launch of New Report: Air Freight: The Impacts

10th December – 11am
Outside Southend Airport, Eastwoodbury Crescent, Southend

AirportWatch, the umbrella body of organisations opposed to airport expansion, is calling for a Night Air Freight Tax. The call comes on the day AirportWatch launches a major report on air freight (1). The report, Air Freight: The Impacts, will be launched at 11am on 10th December. The launch will be taking place in Southend (2), to coincide with the last day on consultation of plans to expand the local airport being proposed by the freight magnate Eddie Stobbart (3).

The 40 page report highlights the tax-breaks enjoyed by the aviation freight industry. It pays no tax on aviation fuel. It is exempt from VAT. And it does not pay the equivalent of Air Passenger Duty. AirportWatch is calling for Air Passenger Duty to be replaced by a Plane Tax, a proposal supported by both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. But AirportWatch is calling for a higher rate of tax to be paid on freight planes using the airports at night.

John Stewart, the current Chair of AirportWatch, said, “A higher charge on night freight flights would be a sensible market mechanism to force the industry to decide just how much freight really needs to be flown during the night. Our report suggests that only about 20% of express freight is time-critical. Fewer freight flights at night would bring real benefits to residents under the flight paths.”

The report also highlights the global impact of air freight. It estimates that air cargo accounts for about 20% of all global aviation emissions. It has found that air freight produces the most carbon emissions per tonne of any form of freight transport, with considerably greater amounts of CO2 produced per tonne kilometre than shipping.

Rose Bridger, the author of the report, said, ‘Air freight volumes have reduced during the recession, but freight capacity expansion is planned and underway at airports all over the UK. This will either undermine our greenhouse gas reduction targets, or leave us with white elephants if it is underutilised’.

The report found that the UK is running a considerable air freight trade deficit – over £20 billion annually with non-EU countries (which account for 85% of UK freight).

ENDS

Notes for Editors

1. The Report, a summary and an airport-by-airport analysis are available.
2. The location is the passenger entrance to Southend Airport, Eastwoodbury Crescent, Southend. A map is available at http://tr.im/GsIN
3. The Stobart Group, most famous for their freight business, bought London Southend Airport in December 2008. They plan a massive expansion, taking the airport from under 50,000 to two million passengers per year by 2020. As well as passenger flights, Stobart anticipates that up to 10% of the 53,300 flights they are permitted each year will be for freight. Local residents are worried about the noise, pollution and road congestion that this will cause and are fighting the proposal to extend the airport’s runway.