FOI - Air travel pollution from Biggin Hill Airport [Mar 2023]

Your request  

I am unable to see the break down for air travel generated pollution resulting from Biggin Hill Airport.

I know you aware that air travel is a major cause of pollutants and the Mayor would have taken this in to account.

Please supply this information.

Our response

The London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (LAEI) 2019 contains the most recent modelling of emissions of key pollutants in London by source type.

The data set we directed you to includes the emissions from aviation at different geographies, including London-wide, borough and 1km² grid squares.

You can access this data by downloading the spreadsheet entitled ‘Emissions – Data-Excel’ on the London Datastore.

Whilst the LAEI includes emissions from aviation, it does not apportion these emissions to specific airports. However, by looking at the grid square level you can identify aviation emissions from the grid square containing Biggin Hill Airport (Grid ID 2682).

As shown by the data, aviation represents a much smaller proportion of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) emissions than road transport. This is true London-wide, in Bromley, and in the 1km² grid covering Biggin Hill Airport specifically.

Please see the data summarised in the table below for ease of reference:  

If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting reference MGLA280323-3674.