Aviation benefits?

A report by the country’s Sustainable Development Commission said airport expansion should be stopped until the link between aviation and economic benefit had been proved – it said estimates of increases in economic activity as a direct result of more air travel had not taken into account the potential losses to activity from cheap flights. It also said the impact of aviation’s emissions was still insufficiently understood. And a survey by WWF of 100 leading businesses found that 89% expect they will want to fly less over the next 10 years because of the benefits of videoconferencing. WWF says if the demand for flying from the business sector goes down, the case for expanding airports starts to look ‘a bit shaky’.