What is the point of air miles? For harried executives, they are one of the few things that justify a globe-trotting existence, a chance to make amends to the family with a free holiday flight. For airlines, they are a valuable marketing tool that helps to secure customers’ loyalty. For environmental activists, they are a thoughtless but serious injury to the health of the planet which should be banned.
That final view has now been given some intellectual backing in an independent report by Imperial College London for the UK’s Committee on Climate Change. The report argues air miles schemes should be banned as they encourage excessive flying. It recommends instead an escalating “air miles levy” to discourage people from flying too much, with the income invested in low-carbon technology. According to the report, occasional flyers or family holidaymakers would not be penalised. The move would affect the 15 per cent of the population responsible for an estimated 70 per cent of UK flights.
It is an eye-catching proposal. Frequent flyer schemes have become both a lucrative business and a draw for travellers since the launch of the first in 1979. There is evidence of people abusing the system: taking more flights simply to maintain their status as “privileged travellers”. So-called “mileage runs” are a common way to increase points to retain access to privileges.
As the report notes, if the UK is to have a chance of meeting its legal commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, lifestyles will have to change, especially in transport. In Nottingham, a workplace parking levy has proved popular because the funds raised have been invested in public transport and air quality has improved. Aviation is likely to be the biggest source of UK emissions by 2050 so proposals to limit demand growth need consideration. Other policies, however, would make more inroads than an attack on frequent flyer schemes. Less polluting modes of transport such as rail are still, on average, more expensive than flying with a low-cost airline. When a return flight from London to Edinburgh can cost less than £100, there is little incentive to take the more expensive — and slower — train.
Policymakers in Europe are considering including aviation in a review of energy taxation. Taxing airline fuel has been mooted. Yet in a sign of how difficult some countries are finding it to put national interests aside, the EU’s European Investment Bank on Tuesday again postponed a decision on whether to stop funding natural gas projects following pushback from Germany.
To meet its 2050 emissions goals the UK government should prioritise tackling those areas that are big contributors to emissions today. One of the most thorny issues is domestic heating. Weaning British households off the gas boilers that warm their often draughty homes should be a priority. Experts calculate that this would require replacing gas boilers with greener heating systems in at least 15,000 homes each week for the next 31 years. Under current policies, only a couple of hundred homes a week are forecast to move away from gas.
New energy efficiency measures for business published on Tuesday, alongside promises of a “first-of-a kind plan” on how to cut transport emissions, are welcome but light on detail. Three months after the UK committed to net zero emissions, bold policy is still missing. A package of domestic and international measures — one that includes more effective carbon pricing as well as significant investment into areas such as electrification — will be needed if the UK is to stand a chance of meeting its ambitious target.
