Friends of the Earth calls for airline subsidies to end

The group also proposes the construction of a high speed rail network to replace short-haul flights.

The calls come as the government is due to outline plans for the next 30 years of passenger aviation in the UK.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling is expected to opt for new runways at Stansted and Birmingham airports.

However, it is thought likely he will rule out the construction of any new airports or a new runway at Heathrow - the option preferred by the aviation industry.

Environmentalists believe there are better ways of coping with increased demand than building new runways or airports.

The government must put people and the environment ahead of the aviation lobby by ruling out any new airports or runways for the next decade Tony Juniper Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth (FofE) says Mr Darling should use his White Paper to improve public transport and to address the effects airline emissions have on climate change, along with air and noise pollution.

Congestion charging in the sky would mean airports and airlines being forced to pay tax on fuel for domestic flights in line with UK drivers. They would also lose their tax breaks and subsidies.

Subsidies

Tony Juniper, FofE's executive director, said: "The media has built up the White Paper as 'Heathrow vs Stansted' but that misses the real issue.

"The government must put people and the environment ahead of the aviation lobby by ruling out any new airports or runways for the next decade.

"Cheap flights are heavily subsidised and this money would be far better spent on helping the average person travel on a daily basis.

"If subsidies were ended and a 'congestion charge' brought in on airlines, the chancellor would have �9bn to invest in public and sustainable transport, including safer streets and providing every child with a safe route to school."

FofE report that half of all flights, some 45%, within Europe are around just 300 miles.

Budget airlines

It claims that many of these journeys could be made using an efficient high-speed rail network, as in France and Germany, which would free up existing airport runways for long-haul flights.

FofE is urging the UK to use its EU presidency in 2005 to press for a Europe-wide tax on aviation fuel and an emissions charge.

It claims the majority of trips on budget airlines, some 75%, are made by the better off in society and most of the growth predicted by ministers will be made up of trips by the wealthiest 10% of the population .

The environmental protection group says travelling by plane from London to Leeds produces more than nine times more CO2 per passenger than travelling by train.