A silver Airstream 'campaign plane' embarked on a month-long tour of London and the Thames Valley this morning to record the voices of people opposed to expansion at Heathrow. The trailer tour will land across the capital as the government prepares to launch a consultation into plans for a third runway at the airport.

Thousands of Londoners' voices will be collected during the tour and computer-digitised then blared through loud-speakers at representatives of the aviation industry and government - reversing the noise experienced daily by millions of people living under Heathrow's flightpaths.

The tour - organised by Greenpeace - was launched in the village of Sipson today with the local MP, John McDonnell. The village is the site of the proposed third runway where thousands of protesters gathered earlier this year for the Climate Camp. Scores of voices have already been recorded and roared back at a volume approaching 100 decibels outside the headquarters of aviation companies today.

The 'campaign plane' is showing a film detailing why Heathrow expansion would be an environmental disaster, while Greenpeace campaigners are on hand to answer questions about the campaign. The tour will continue over the next month including stopovers at the Lord Mayor's Show, Hampstead, Clapham, Windsor, Brick Lane, the South Bank as well as many other places.

Emily Armistead, Greenpeace Senior Transport Campaigner said: "The fight to block a third runway at Heathrow is now one of the biggest environmental battles in Europe, and it's one we intend to win. For too long the government and its friends in the aviation industry like British Airways have ignored concerns over climate change and the pleas of locals who stand to lose their homes. The Greenpeace tour will make sure Londoners' voices are heard, quite literally."

She continued:

"You can't build a new runway at Heathrow and still claim to be serious about fighting climate change. Flying is the fastest growing source of emissions in this country and needs to be tackled, yet this new runway is being built to cater for flights where the train is a perfectly viable alternative. We're collecting voices of opposition from across London and the south-east and we'll be blasting them back at the people trying to get this runway built."

British flyers already create far more carbon emissions per head than those from any other country - nearly 40 per cent higher than the second placed country, Ireland, and more than twice as much as Americans. Last month a new coalition comprising groups as diverse as the National Trust and the London Mayor's office was formed to fight the government's plans. The Stop Heathrow Expansion campaign is supported by groups representing millions of people. Even people that use the airports don't want to see them expand - in a new MORI poll almost 70 per cent of people that fly in the UK say there's no need to build new runways.

Speaking about the tour local MP John McDonnell said:

"This brilliant initiative will really assist in spreading the word about the implications of a third runway and sixth terminal at Heathrow not just for the devastation it will cause to the environment of local communities along the flightpath but also globally to speeding climate change. The more people hear about the environmental impact of aviation expansion the more opposition there is to new runway plans."

For more contact Greenpeace on 0207 865 8255

Photo and video available

The Video Wall can be found at www.greenpeace.org.uk/heathrow

Notes to editors

A third runway would greatly increase greenhouse gas emissions from Heathrow, and is entirely unnecessary. Paris and Manchester, first and fifth most popular destinations out of Heathrow, are responsible for almost 100 flights per day on routes where the equivalent train journey is actually faster. Adding other flights to locations easily accessible by train such as Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Brussels, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds/Bradford and Durham Tees Valley, then over 100,000 flights could be transferred to routes where traveling by train is a viable alternative.

The Tyndall climate research centre calculates that if aviation expands as projected, Britain will have to totally decarbonise the rest of its economy by 2050 to effectively tackle climate change. Because aviation emissions are released at altitude they do far more damage to the climate than co2 emitted at ground level.

A third runway will cause 750 homes to be flattened, including the complete demolition of the village of Sipson, and will increase levels of NOx pollution. NOx is linked to increased instances of asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis. Heathrow is already in danger of breaching EU limits on NOx levels.

Campaigners offer free train tickets to travellers, call on BA and government to act on aviation emissions

Greenpeace has set up a "climate ticket exchange" in Newquay airport, where people booked on BA's latest domestic route can swap their plane tickets for climate-friendly train tickets.

The environment group is offering the free return train tickets to passengers queuing for the inaugural BA Newquay to Gatwick flight. Greenpeace members are taking questions from travellers about the impact of aviation on the climate. Yesterday saw the start of a Greenpeace advertising campaign branding British Airways a global warming dinosaur that sticks two fingers up at the environment.

Greenpeace aviation campaigner Laura Yates is at Newquay. She said: "We're giving free train tickets to people in the queue so they can take the climate-friendly train to London instead. By opening up this new route British Airways is flying in the face of the science. Planes are ten times more damaging to the climate than trains, so if we don't do something about the growth in aviation Britain will find it very hard to meet its global warming targets."

The Greenpeace train tickets from Newquay to Paddington cost around the same price as a BA ticket. Taking into account the time and cost of checking in and getting from Gatwick to London, the train is cheaper and doesn't take much longer than the plane. This summer a new high speed rail service between Newquay and Paddington will reduce the journey time to four hours, making British Airways' decision to open the new route even more nonsensical.

Flying is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, doubling in the 1990s. Flights from and within the UK account for 5.5 per cent of our total CO2 emissions, while aviation's true effect is at least 11 per cent of the UK's climate impact because greenhouse gases create more global warming when emitted at altitude.

Laura Yates continued: "We're finding travellers are really interested to hear how polluting flying can be. Much as we'd love to operate a permanent climate ticket exchange, our resources don't stretch that far. Instead it will be down to politicians to stand up to BA and reverse the emergence of binge-flying that's doing so much to wreck the climate."

Video and stills available.

For more contact Greenpeace on 07801 212972 or 0207 8658255

Campaigners offer free train tickets to travellers, call on BA and govt to act on aviation emissions.

Greenpeace has set up a "climate ticket exchange" in Gatwick airport, where people booked on BA's latest domestic route can swap their plane tickets for climate-friendly train tickets.

The environment group is offering the free return train tickets to passengers queuing for the inaugural Gatwick to Newquay flight at the north terminal. Security guards are attempting to move the ticket exchange while Greenpeace members take questions from travellers about the impact of aviation on the climate. Yesterday saw the start of a Greenpeace advertising campaign branding British Airways a global warming dinosaur that sticks two fingers up at the environment.

Greenpeace aviation campaigner Emily Armistead is at Gatwick. She said: "We're giving free train tickets to people in the queue so they can take the climate-friendly train to Newquay instead. By opening up this new route British Airways is flying in the face of the science. Planes are ten times more damaging to the climate than trains, so if we don't do something about the growth in aviation Britain will find it very hard to meet its global warming targets."

The Greenpeace train tickets from Paddington to Newquay cost around the same price as a BA ticket. Taking into account the time and cost of getting to Gatwick from London and checking in, the train is cheaper and doesn't take much longer than the plane. This summer a new high speed rail service between Paddington and Newquay will reduce the journey time to four hours, making British Airways' decision to open the new route even more nonsensical.

Flying is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, doubling in the 1990s. Flights from and within the UK account for 5.5 per cent of our total CO₂ emissions, while aviation's true effect is at least 11 per cent of the UK's climate impact because greenhouse gases create more global warming when emitted at altitude.

Emily Armistead continued: "We're finding travellers are really interested to hear how polluting flying can be. Much as we'd love to operate a permanent climate ticket exchange, our resources don't stretch that far. Instead it will be down to politicians to stand up to BA and reverse the emergence of binge-flying that's doing so much to wreck the climate."

ENDS

Video and stills available.

For more contact Greenpeace on 07801 212967 or 0207 8658255