The heat is unbearable, wildfires rage, and crops struggle to grow – yet Bristol Airport wants to add 15,000 more flights a year. Climate campaigners say the plan is a contradiction that cannot stand.
The airport, which serves 12 million passengers annually, has applied to increase that figure to 15 million. Bosses insist the growth can be done "sustainably". Dave Lees, the chief executive, claims Bristol will be "the first airport to be net zero by 2030" – but crucially, that target excludes emissions from the planes themselves.
“Bristol Airport's net zero pledge faces scrutiny as it seeks to add 15,000 flights a year, with campaigners calling the plans unsustainable.”
Mary Collett, from Bristol Airport Action Network, is urging councillors to reject the expansion. "With the weather like this at the moment, the unbearable heat, the fact that we can't grow food as easily, we just can't carry on expanding airports, we all just need to fly a bit less," she said.
Campaigners point out that 99% of the airport's carbon footprint comes from aircraft. The measures the airport is introducing – giant heat pumps, electric vehicles for cars and buses, and more fuel-efficient planes – "barely touch the surface", Collett argues.
Lees, however, sees a different future. New aircraft, such as the Airbus NEO jets operated by EasyJet, have cut fuel consumption by 20%. Kevin Doyle, EasyJet's UK manager, said: "Our roadmap is by 2050 to get to net zero, and this aircraft very much helps us on that path." Of the 20 aircraft based at Bristol, 13 are from "that next generation".
But campaigners warn that any per-plane savings will be "overwhelmed" by the sheer increase in flights. The airport wants to raise its annual cap from 85,000 to 100,000 – a rise of nearly 18%. That means a bigger terminal and controversial new landing lights on ancient common land next to the airport.
The UK Government has backed regional airport expansion to "drive economic growth". Yet this summer, repeated heatwaves, droughts and wildfires have underscored the cost of a changing climate.
As councillors in North Somerset pore over the ambitious expansion plan, the question remains: can an airport truly go carbon neutral while flying more people to more places?