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Wed, 16 Sep 2026

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 Third Heathrow runway should only go ahead if airlines pay for cleaner flying, say advisers

The government's climate advisers say Heathrow's third runway cannot be approved under current climate policies.

* Government advisers say Heathrow's third runway cannot be approved without changes to climate policies
* Expansion can still go ahead if aviation industry funds cleaner fuels and pays for carbon dioxide removal machines, but this would increase flight costs by up to £400 return by 2050
* The expanded airport would produce more carbon dioxide than any other single sector of the economy by 2050
* Government's Climate Change Committee (CCC) wants legislation to push responsibility for long-term clean-up of aviation onto the industry
* Department for Transport says expansion would need to align with UK's climate targets, but also claims it could deliver £40bn to the economy and support up to 60,000 local jobs
* CCC has said carbon-removal machines must be deployed to cut more than a third of emissions by 2050, but almost none of this technology currently exists at scale
* Airline industry rejects committee's approach, saying it would put holidays out of reach for millions and turn back the clock to when flying was only for the rich
* Researchers believe CCC's advice does not act as a barrier to Heathrow's expansion and will fail to achieve required reduction in planet-warming gases.