Plane savings on the deck; reducing the impact of taxiing

As an airline passenger it’s more normal to relax and think of your final destination rather than the ground-based procedures that got your flight into the air.

And why should you, given the journey you have made to the airport, the drudge of getting airside and the inevitable wait among fellow travellers descending into shops, bars and restaurants prior to being called to a departure gate?

It is easy to overlook the fact that in its last financial year Gatwick Airport handled 255,711 flights, 127,833 of which were departures, and figures from Heathrow Airport report an average 1,293 flights per day, or 472,067 annually. Worldwide, there’s a predicted 109 per cent increase in passenger aircraft by 2031, with demand for air travel increasing by around four to five per cent a year.

While the aviation industry makes a relatively modest contribution to greenhouse-gas emissions compared to other industries, comprising two per cent of the global total, it is aware of its environmental responsibilities and the measures that will have to be in place in order to alleviate the burden it can place via emissions to the air and around airports through noise.