Fine airlines for check in queues

The Liberal Democrats are proposing that airlines should be fined for long queues at check in and that there should be no airport expansion in London and the South East.

The party also want BAA to be forced to sell two of its London airports, and information on carbon emissions to be printed on every airline ticket. In addition the Lib Dems suggest introducing a surcharge to Aviation Duty for domestic flights in the UK to help fund a high speed rail network, which the party thinks should be built to reduce the number of flights here.

The proposals are set out in a new policy document Fair for the Passenger, Fair for the Environment: A Down to Earth Approach to Aviation. Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker, is critical of the Government’s policy on airports.

"Both the passenger and the environment have lost out under the Government’s failed aviation strategy. By refusing to support a high speed rail network the Government has failed to give travellers a real alternative to domestic flights. At the same time hidden airline subsidies are allowing carbon emissions to skyrocket as operating costs remain comparatively low,” says Baker.

"Even now, ministers would rather push ahead with an ill-conceived proposal to expand Heathrow than plan for high speed rail. Airlines and airport operators must be shown that they can’t have it all their own way and travellers must be given a fairer deal and clearer options. Our proposals are fair for the passenger and fair for the environment," adds Baker.

Baker has also spoken out about British Airways’ warning that air fares will have to rise. “There are too many airlines, chasing too few passengers, at a time of rising oil prices and increasing environmental concerns. In the last ten years, the average cost of a one-way ticket for an internal flight within the UK has fallen from £205 to £103. It is unavoidable that this process will now be reversed," he says.

The Liberal Democrats make it clear that they favour rail travel rather than airline travel in the UK. "Rail is the greenest form of mass transportation and the Government should be taking steps to make it more attractive. At the moment it seems that the more carbon you emit, the cheaper it is to travel," Baker states.

Written by: Nick Purdom

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