It’s time to stop subsidising pollution at 30,000 feet

For years, there’s been a narrative that cutting emissions from flying means sacrificing family holidays or pricing ordinary people out of travel. But our new research with the New Economics Foundation shows that this story doesn’t hold up.

In fact, the biggest problem isn’t people taking one or two flights a year - it’s a small group of ultra-frequent flyers. Just 3% of the UK population take a quarter of all flights, mostly for leisure. And while they're clocking up excessive air miles, more and more people in the UK aren’t flying at all, despite two decades of airport expansion.

So how do we fix this?

We’ve proposed a new approach: a £20 “first flight discount” for every UK resident, alongside a new tax on ultra-frequent flyers and higher charges on the most carbon-intensive flights.

This approach could cut aviation emissions by 28% by 2030, while raising £6 billion a year for the Treasury, helping us stay on track with climate targets, and take the pressure off an overstuffed emissions budget. 

Zooming out: it’s not just about flying

Aviation is one of the toughest sectors to decarbonise — and right now, we’re heading in the wrong direction. Without policies that reduce demand from the people flying most often, we simply won’t hit our climate targets.

But this isn’t just about aviation.

From SUVs clogging our cities and private jets soaring overhead to endless ads pushing high-carbon lifestyles, we’re facing a wider challenge: demand. Who’s using the most? Who’s benefiting? And how do we make the shift to a greener future fair for everyone?

At Possible, we’re working to bring demand down in ways that protect what really matters - like getting around, staying warm, and enjoying time off - while cutting what doesn’t, like polluting car ads and a tax system that rewards excessive emissions.

This new research is part of that bigger picture. It shows that with smart, fair policies, we can cut emissions and make real progress, without putting the burden on those doing the least harm. If we’re serious about tackling the climate crisis, it’s time to stop giving the biggest polluters a free pass and time to level the runway.