Our vision for air transport

Our 2050 Vision

Vision:

Air transport

Though it can never be eliminated – proactive steps can be taken to decarbonise flying, discourage frequent flying, and shift shorter journeys to rail and other modes.

At Enroute, we strive to create a greener, economically-friendly, and community-influenced public and active transport network, encouraging modal shift from road and private car to sustainable modes of transport. We elaborate on our aims with our comprehensive vision for the transport network in 2050.

Our 2050 Vision draws on our work and the published work of other organisations. Whilst we highlight where our vision aligns with the views of other organisations, the 2050 Vision represents Enroute’s views and should not be taken to represent those of other organisations.

Domestic air travel

Domestically within Great Britain (in England, Wales and Scotland), we will always support the use of rail and ferry connectivity to other parts of the country rather than use of air transport. However, we do understand that certain journeys are impractical to complete without using a plane given the nature of our island (for example, the Scottish Highlands, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, Channel Islands etc)

However, we are in support of banning the operation of domestic flights for journeys that would take less than three hours to complete by rail (although we propose this include centre-to-centre travel), in line with the Green Party 2024 Manifesto. For example, this would outlaw flights from London to Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester.

In due course, with improved high-speed rail connectivity, flights from London, Birmingham and Manchester to Edinburgh and Glasgow would be discontinued, as well as flights from Birmingham and Bristol to Newcastle.

International rail connectivity

We strongly support the implementation of a frequent flyer levy and an increase in air passenger duty, primarily to fund sustainable aviation and improved domestic/continental rail connectivity.

We support the improvement of international rail connectivity to European countries to serve as an alternative to international short-haul flights to countries such as France, Germany and The Netherlands, as per our International Rail policy position.

Airports

We are not in support of the opening of new domestic airports, or expansion of existing domestic airports, and we think that unviable airports in Great Britain should not be paid for by public funds unless they are geographically isolated. We also believe that no public funds should be spent on airports currently in (re)development, including:

Teesside Airport, which is owned by the public Tees Valley Combined Authority
Doncaster Sheffield Airport, which was found not to be commercially viable in November 2022, and is being pushed to be reopened by South Yorkshire Combined Authority.