UK airports are planning to expand almost three times faster than the government's climate change advisers say is sustainable, according to research by Sky News.
Our analysis of the "masterplans" for 21 of the country's biggest airports show they intend to add 192 million passengers to the 286 million that already use their terminals over the next 10-20 years.
That's a growth of 67%.
It far exceeds the ceiling of "at most 25%" that the Committee on Climate Change has told the Department of Transport is the limit for sustainable growth if the UK is to meet its commitment for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Lord Deben, the chairman of the committee, told Sky News: "The fact is, it is the law that we have to keep our emissions down.
Advertisement
"I don't want to stop people having holidays. That would be the last thing I want.
"But you can't have a holiday at the cost of the Earth. If you want to have holidays the industry has to find ways of having holidays without destroying the Earth."
More from Gatwick
Heathrow, with its plan for a controversial third runway, accounts for 50 million extra passengers.
But even if Boris Johnson scraps the runway – and he vowed to lie in front of the bulldozers when he was elected as a west London MP in 2015 – our figures show the government faces a massive challenge in curtailing passenger numbers.
Three-quarters of the anticipated passenger growth is at other airports.
Gatwick, the UK's second-busiest airport, hopes to add 24 million passengers to the 46 million already using its terminals.
But our research reveals even small airports have big plans.
Southampton hopes to expand from two million to five million passengers by 2037 – an increase of 151%.
But the biggest expansion of all is at Doncaster Sheffield airport, where passenger numbers could growth from 1.2 to 7.2 million – that's up 490%.
Belfast City airport wants to almost double the number of passengers to four million over the coming years.
Brian Ambrose, its chief executive, defended the growth, adding that the local economy stood to benefit.
"We are an island off an island. Flying is essential," he said.
"We are fortunate that we have airlines with more modern aircraft with fewer emissions. If we grow Read More – Source
