Climate campaigners have been left speechless and infuriated by Heathrow Airport’s announcement of a record breaking year, with 83.9 million passengers travelling through the airport in 2024
Heathrow Airport has revealed a record year for passenger numbers, causing despair among climate campaigners.
In 2024, more than 83.9 million passengers travelled through Heathrow Airport – 4.7 million more than in 2023, and three million more than the previous record from 2019. The London travel hub expected the figure to reach an even higher figure in 2025.
Climate groups and campaigners have expressed their dismay at the record-smashing figures, as reducing flight numbers is considered a key part of the effort to reduce climate change fueling emissions. By 2050, passenger air traffic from EU airports will more than double compared with 2019, undermining the industry’s own green initiatives, Transport and Environment (T&E) said, reports Sky News.
A Just Stop Oil representative stated: “Charles Darwin is turning in his grave, and not because it was spray painted with the message ‘1.5 IS DEAD’ by two Just Stop Oil supporters this morning. Darwin would be hugely disappointed in humanity.
“We’ve failed to heed his advice, to learn from his discoveries, and have actively brought about a preventable sixth mass extinction. 1.5 degrees — the limit that was set ten years ago in the Paris Agreement — is dead. 2024 was the first year on record with a global average temperature exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
“Our Governments have failed to protect us and continue to fail in responding to the climate crisis we currently face. On this very day, the death toll in California rises to 24 people, as out-of-control wildfires devastate the state. In short, we’re pretty f***ed. But that doesn’t mean that it’s time to give up, that there’s nothing that can be done.”
T&E also warned that the “exponential growth” of air travel will offset any gains made by increased energy efficiency or sustainable fuels, as the industry is set to burn through 59 per cent more fuel in 2050 than in 2019.- In total, the airline industry is responsible for around 2.5 per cent of global carbon emissions. While that number may be low, given how small a proportion of the global population flies, it has the potential grow enormously.
Manty airlines have promised to use more sustainable fuels. However, progressing this has proved difficult and expensive, so far. The airline sector has also rejected calls to curb growth, arguing that it is essential for economic development and connecting people across the globe.
Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said: “2024 was an exciting and a record-breaking year at Heathrow, according to Sky News and that “the kind of facilities our passengers and airlines are looking for” and innovative projects to ensure the airport “delivers for the whole of the UK”.
In addition, T&E stated that the EU’s target to cut emissions is “meaningless” and that the bloc does not have sufficient policies in place to bring those produced by the aviation sector down. The group is now calling for an end to airport infrastructure growth, cuts to business travel and disincentives to deter frequent fliers, as well as a fix to the under-taxation of the industry.
Jo Dardenne, aviation director at T&E, said: “The numbers leave you speechless. The aviation industry’s plans for growth are completely irreconcilable with Europe’s climate goals and the scale of the climate crisis. A paradigm shift and real climate leadership are needed now to address the problem, or Europe’s planes will be eating up everyone else’s resources. The credibility of the sector is on the line.”