Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 11
Climate policy for civil aviation:
actors, policy instruments and the
potential for emissions reductions
1
Andreas Pastowski
I
NTRODUCTION
:
THE
ROOTS
AND
PACE
OF
AVIATION
'
S
SUCCESS
STORY
Since the first flight of the Wright Brothers in 1903, air transport has become tech-
nically feasible, but its contribution to total transport activity remained insignificant.
World War II brought about an enormous advance in aircraft technology and, thus,
the potential for an economically viable civil aviation industry. In 1945 a commer-
cial transatlantic flight with several stop-overs took place between New York and
Bournemouth for the first time. Even though that flight was still rather costly and
time consuming, it opened up the rapid development towards ever faster, safer, more
comfortable and less costly aviation services (Holloway, 1999, p32). Technological
change, in general, and particularly in jet engine efficiency has been the main driv-
ing force for increasing aircraft productivity and, hence, reductions in unit operating
cost and ticket prices (Doganis, 1995, pp1-4).
Global passenger transport activity by air has reached roughly 50 times the vol-
ume it had 50 years ago. This has contributed 10 per cent and 30 per cent to the
overall increase in passenger kilometres (ie from all forms of transport) in Europe
and the US respectively during that same period. An average European flies around
2.5km per day, resulting in 15 seconds of daily travel time. US citizens on average
spend 70 seconds flying per day, while the so-called jet set may reach up to 30 min-
utes per day (Ausubel et al, 1998). Even though enormous efforts were made for
improving fuel efficiency, exponential growth in demand has resulted in a substan-
tial increase in fuel burn.
