Aviation and the Global Atmosphrer Report - Essay Example

In 2004 the UK ranked number six in the world league of tourism earnings, and tourism is a major component of the UK economy, accounting for 3.5% of UK GDP. The tourism industry directly supports 1.4 million jobs, or some 5% of total UK employment and one fifth of all international air passengers in the world are on flights to or from a UK airport. Airports are critical for the development of local and regional economies. They generate employment, open up wider markets and attract businesses to an area.

They are also increasingly important transport hubs, particularly for the logistics industry. But Air travel is the world's fastest growing source of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, which cause climate change. The huge increase in aircraft pollution is largely due to the rapid growth in air traffic. This means increasing airport capacity, more flights, more pollution and increasingly crowded airspace. People living near airports have long suffered from aircraft noise, traffic congestion and air pollution.

Indeed communities around airports have been concerned about these issues for years. Aircraft emissions can also have a significant effect at ground level. Air and ground traffic at major airports can lead to pollution levels as high as city centers. Several steps have been taken by the various governments and airports to mitigate these impacts of air traffic. New airports policy specifically addresses how harmful greenhouse gases from aircraft will be reduced and that adequate resources are put into encouraging alternatives to flying.

But people around airports are more concerned about environmental impacts and protesting even expansion of airports. Manchester airport in UK experienced the same kind of protest. But when we analyzed the cost-benefits of developments especially social and environmental costs and loss of economic activities, it clearly shows that though aviation may cause greenhouse gases emission but have not established yet the quantity of adverse impacts whereas economic losses could be quantified. So the more sustainable developments are recommended and pursued by the airports and the governments equally.

Introduction: The aviation industry is defined as those activities that are directly dependent on transporting people and goods by air to from and within. This covers airline and airport operations and includes scheduled and chartered flights for passengers and freight, general aviation, aircraft maintenance, air traffic control, and activities directly serving air-passengers, such as check in baggage handling and on-site retail and catering facilities. In an increasingly globalize economy the aviation industry is a vital element of the UK's transport infrastructure.

Benefits of aviation industry growth: The aviation industry directly contributed 11.04 billion pound to UK GDP in 2004 and employed 186,000 people. Over 520,000 jobs in UK in total depend on the aviation industry. Visitors arriving by air contribute over 12 billion pound a year to