Letters to the Editor
The Independent
191 Marsh Wall
London
E14 9RS

Friday, May 7, 2003

RE: Consumers set to gain from budget airlines' tough times, News, Thursday, May 6

Sir

Your report that consumers may benefit from budget airlines' tough times ignores the true costs of 'cheap' flights - environmental, social and economic - that are borne collectively, by those who don't fly as much as by those that do.

The price tag for consumers is held artificially low thanks to a taxpayers' subsidy of £220 a year for every man, woman and child in the country.

And if that's not enough - aviation is now the fastest source of carbon dioxide emissions contributing to climate change, and the effects of air pollution on public health are well documented. Ten million EU citizens suffer the effects of noise from aircraft - a figure that can only be set to rise if these artificial prices continue.

There really is no such thing as a cheap flight.

Yours faithfully

Dr Caroline Lucas MEP (Green Party, S E England)
European Parliament
Brussels