Responding to BAA's submission of a planning application for a second runway at Stansted airport, Anna Jones, Greenpeace Aviation campaigner said:

"Whatever their executives might say, BAA's dangerous expansion plans smack of growth at any cost. Doubling the number of flights from Stansted and Heathrow at a time when the scientists are telling us we need to urgently slash our emissions is madness. The company will find a passionate majority of people who are ready to fight this runway, for the sake of the local area and their children's future.

Only this week we’ve seen proof that BAA are a company who cannot be trusted, who are willing to play fast and loose with the science in order to push through their expansion plans.

The Government must stop cosying up to them and instead put the safety of the planet first. It must scrap this out-of-control aviation policy and give real support for a sustainable transport system instead."

For more, contact Greenpeace on 0207 865 8255

BAA announces plans to expand airport as UN readies climate report

Stansted airport operators BAA today unveiled plans for a second runway, prompting condemnation from environmental campaigners concerned at the role aviation is playing in fuelling climate change.

Just two months ago Uttlesford District Council blocked plans to increase passenger numbers at the airport, citing climate change as a reason. But today BAA Chief Executive Stephen Nelson unveiled proposals to push for a second runway at the airport near Chelmsford, Essex.

Greenpeace campaigner Emily Armistead said: "Aviation is the fastest growing source of emissions in the UK, threatening to undo all the efforts made by individuals and other industries. If we're serious about tackling climate change we simply can´t let BAA get their way at Stansted. In the week the UN release their latest report, confirming the grave threat we face from global warming, the government should reign in the airline industry and call a halt to all airport expansion."

The world-respected Tyndall centre and Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute both calculate that Britain will be unable to meet its carbon reduction targets is aviation expands as predicted by the industry and government.

The government's 2003 aviation white paper calls for two new runways in the south-east of England.

Despite claims by BAA that low-cost airlines allow less wealthy people to travel, research by the Civil Aviation Authority shows the average annual household income of people using Stansted exceeds £47,000.

ENDS

Greenpeace press office – 0207 865 8255

BAA announces plans to expand airport as UN readies climate report

Stansted airport operators BAA today unveiled plans for a second runway, prompting condemnation from environmental campaigners concerned at the role aviation is playing in fuelling climate change.

Just two months ago Uttlesford District Council blocked plans to increase passenger numbers at the airport, citing climate change as a reason. But today BAA Chief Executive Stephen Nelson unveiled proposals to push for a second runway at the airport near Chelmsford, Essex.

Greenpeace campaigner Emily Armistead said: "Aviation is the fastest growing source of emissions in the UK, threatening to undo all the efforts made by individuals and other industries. If we're serious about tackling climate change we simply canﾴt let BAA get their way at Stansted. In the week the UN release their latest report, confirming the grave threat we face from global warming, the government should reign in the airline industry and call a halt to all airport expansion."

The world-respected Tyndall centre and Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute both calculate that Britain will be unable to meet its carbon reduction targets is aviation expands as predicted by the industry and government.

The government's 2003 aviation white paper calls for two new runways in the south-east of England.

Despite claims by BAA that low-cost airlines allow less wealthy people to travel, research by the Civil Aviation Authority shows the average annual household income of people using Stansted exceeds £47,000.

ENDS

Greenpeace press office - 0207 865 8255