MP VISITS GATWICK

The local MP, currently Chair of the All-Party Environment Group in the House of Commons, used the meeting with the airport's Managing Director, Paul Griffiths, to raise issues of how general housekeeping around the airport could be greener, how BAA could take more steps to encourage the public to make greater use of public transport to and from the airport and how the serious environmental impact of aviation could itself be reduced.

Mr Baker made three key suggestions to BAA:

Invest more in waste minimisation and energy efficiency in general terms around the airport '“ in public areas and offices.

Make greater efforts to raise awareness about the public transport facilities to and from the airport and particularly to target those currently driving and using the airport's parking facilities.

Invest in technology to tackle aviation issues such as stacking over London which wastes fuel while aeroplanes queue to land.

Commenting on the visit, MrBaker said:

"On the airport's housekeeping, I am pleased that BAA is taking the impact of its operation seriously and that they are prepared to take external advice on how they can improve their practices. While they have already made welcome inroads into reducing their environmental impact at the airport there is still much that needs to be done, for example to encourage waste minimisation and to reduce energy consumption further.

"Though Gatwick is probably the best connected airport in the UK in terms of public transport, thousands of people still drive to the airport and cough up large mounts of money for parking charges. I suggested to BAA that they talk to airlines to see if rail tickets could be somehow combined with air tickets and if information on the very good train services to Gatwick could be made available to everyone who takes a car park ticket.

"Of course the biggest impact of aviation on the environment comes from flying itself, and while much of this is outside the control of BAA, there are still steps they can take. For example, they could work more closely with airlines to use technology to prevent stacking over London (where queues of planes circle waiting to land), and they can also encourage greater use of more fuel-efficient planes. I have asked them to look at how much flexibility they have in applying landing charges to encourage such improvements."