ABSTRACT
The environment is the airline industry’s Achilles’ Heel. Its negative externalities include noise and lighting pollution, traffic congestion near airports and in the skies, engine emissions and wastes of all types. Every airline which has any form of annual sustainability report has an environment section and indeed, some might have only produced an environment report. This overlooks the fact that economics is at the root of airline environmental sustainability. There is a tension between aviation economists and environmentalists about the allocation of scarce environ mental resources. Aeroplanes need engines to generate lift and stay aloft; however, aircraft engines burn aviation kerosene, a fossil fuel derivative for which there are currently insufficient quantities of sustainable, economically priced, alternative energy sources. Environmentally sensitive decisions – as diverse as en - gine procurement or waste disposal policy – will actually be decided by economic, performance-based criteria and regulatory compliances in all destinations. Aviation economic-environmental sustainability is dependent on the market forces of supply and demand: airport neighbours demanded quieter aircraft and manufacturers supplied; airlines demanded improved fuel efficiency with fewer emissions and manufacturers complied.
