Flight surgeons

The aviation industry, a major source of economic wealth around the world, has found itself at the centre of the environmental agenda. With aircraft relying on fossil fuels and further growth at airports that operate 24 hours a day, this expanding industry is becoming intrinsically linked with climate change and global warming, noise pollution and deteriorating air quality.

The

(AEF), a UK-based non-profit making association concerned with the environmental effects of aviation, has estimated that the world's commercial jet aircraft generate more than 700 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Similarly, the AEF maintains that emissions from aircraft, air-side support vehicles and airport-related traffic all contribute to a build-up of potentially harmful gases such as oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ozone. They also produce small particulates.

But with the

hosting the second largest aerospace and aviation economy in the world, and the industry worth $200bn (£110bn) across