Flights could be rationed in the future as a way to cut emissions from the aviation industry, Gordon Brown’s “environment tsar” predicted earlier today.

Lord Turner, chair of the climate change committee, said that personal limits would have to be considered at some point to constrain pollution from flights.

This is an idea which is likely to prompt a furore with business and tourism groups.

“We will have to constrain demand in an absolute sense, with people not allowed to make as many journeys as they could in an unconstrained manner,” Turner told a Commons committee.

Lord Turner’s committee is carrying out a report this year into whether the aviation industry can meet a target of limiting its emissions to below their 2005 levels by 2050.

He said it was possible that aircraft could become less polluting thanks to technological improvements or the use of biofuel. But he raised the possibility of the new runway at Heathrow could be left half-empty because of the high level of emissions.

Geoff Hoon, the transport secretary, has promised that the runway will be capped at 125,000 annual flights – fewer than the original plan for 220,000 – until 2020.

Lord Turner told the environmental audit committee that this restriction could be maintained permanently: “It is at least possible that we will come back and say, ‘Given the technological position….we think this is doable with the first flight allocation but we think the second allocation may prove undoable’.”

This could be beneficial for the environment, he said: “A slightly underused airport is a very efficient airport.”

February 4, 2009 8:32pm in UK politics | Comment