UK: Green anger at 'ghost flights'

[muriel_volestrangler]

As politicians outline rival visions of a green agenda, an airline has angered environmental campaigners for flying an empty passenger plane in order to keep hold of its landing slots.

The British Mediterranean Airways (BMed) round-trip flights between London's Heathrow and Cardiff International have been taking off six days a week since October.

They have not appeared on departure or arrival boards, none of the 124 tickets were sold and all passenger seats remained empty.

And to the chagrin of green campaigners more than five tonnes of C02 has been pumped into the atmosphere on each 140-mile journey.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6441103.stm

Just take away the landing slots. It would be bad enough even if there wasn't an environmental implication, but since there is, the airline deserves to be punished.

[Nihil]

1. Tax aircraft fuel at a comparable rate to petrol and diesel

If the slot is taken away from an airline, it will only be given / sold to
another airline - for a new flight that they currently don't operate.
This wouldn't help anyone (except the board of the benefiting airline).

Tax the fuel. That way not only do you cut down on blatant abuse such as
the "ghost flights" but it focuses people on the true cost of those "cheap
flights" and will swing the balance back towards true public transport.

There again, given the eternal abuse of the tax system by rich bastard
politicians, what's the point?