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For the last two or three years, the aviation industry has been almost under siege from environmental critics.

According to George Monbiot, the archpriest of anti-aviation commentators, millions of lives in the developing world will be put at risk by droughts and storms, so we should reduce runway slots in the UK by 90 per cent… over the next 25 years.

Monbiot is an extreme critic but there are many in the media and political worlds with a similar view. The overall effect is creating a climate of opinion in which we are seen as environmental pariahs: blinkered, polluting dinosaurs more interested in next-generation mid-air mobiles than in the next generation.

The issue for the whole industry is how we respond and how we are seen to make environmental responsibility integral to our businesses.

So what should be done? We cannot pollute the atmosphere further with a volley of Ryanair verbals and pretend to ourselves that the problem does not exist. That is just dumb. And while we welcome Sir Richard Branson's recent entry into this debate, we need a more encompassing response than more white lines on the tarmac at Gatwick.