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Civil Aviation Bill

My Lords, I accept that in principle. The measure is premised on the assumption that the industry bears its external costs, which relates to the environment and the issues that have been outlined in today’s discussion. How far that would significantly reduce the demand for air travel is an interesting point. These are challenging issues. Once again I call in aid my noble friend Lord Soley, whom I am delighted to have heard in this House. I heard him often in the other place with great pleasure. We should not pretend that we are in some protected economic environment where we can mess about with airports and the aviation industry, have throwaway lines on restrictions without careful thought, or not be mindful of the fact that it is an intensely competitive industry. Others are poised to take advantage of weaknesses in our provision. It might not relieve the number of flights that appear in the United Kingdom; it just means that others may be the chief beneficiaries in an economic sense, or it may bring benefits to those on the ground. The other point that I want to pick up from the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, is that I can assure the House that resources gained from charging airlines should be devoted to the local community. The noble Lord mentioned a golf course, which may or may not commend itself to the local community. Let me make the obvious point, to which my noble friend Lord Smith will testify, that if you are running an airport and meeting the challenges of local people by constantly consulting them about the environment, you will certainly find out where they want the resources spent from any gains that you may have made. We do not have to worry unduly about how ““airport managers””—a phrase that was expressed in rather disparaging terms—or the industry will let the community down. It will be responsible about consulting on the distribution of resources. I heard what the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, said about tranquil areas, which are all too few. Of course, there is no legislative definition of a tranquil area. I do not know a tranquil area over which aircraft do not fly. If aircraft fly high enough, they do not disturb the area, but the noble Lord will recognise that we do not have such a concept. Not even our national parks, which are tranquil areas, are defined upwards in that way. I recognise, of course, that aircraft movements and aircraft noise threaten the environment not just in the immediate vicinity of airports. We must examine the issue with the greatest of care. I accept that I will be pressed in Committee about how we will go about it. Suffice to say that in introducing the Bill I was concerned about achieving a balance. We intend to be forthright about ensuring that the industry meets its external costs, and has proper regard to both noise and pollution. The noble Countess, Lady Mar, and the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, raised the important issue of health, as did my noble friend Lord Clinton-Davis who was very supportive in his speech. I was grateful for that, given his long experience in the industry, and his present role as president of BALPA. Of course, we are concerned about contaminated air issues, which is why I responded with the greatest of care to the Written Question that the noble Countess addressed to me. Airline pilots and cabin crew are as one with the Government in their interest in ensuring that air is not contaminated and that aircraft are safe to fly and work in and to pilot. That is of the greatest importance. There have been limited cases of illness in aircraft, but that does not alter the importance of our paying due regard to the issue. It will be recognised within the framework of the Bill that we are addressing health issues. It is an important point that I hope will be developed in Committee. In broad terms, I want to say how important the issue is regarded by the Government.