Swiftlydoesit Life & Insurance

Are you addicted to ‘cheap flights’?

August 31st, 2007

An interesting report has just been published. Unveiled at the Royal Geographical Society, in a conference session on Transport and Sustainability, the research from the University of Exeter claims that we - as a nation - are addicted to cheap flights and confused about whether or not to undertake air travel.

When we open the newspapers we see, on one page, stories about the environmental damage caused by aviation, and then on the next page we see full-page advertisements offering cheaper flights to suit our lifestyle. The study reckons that even those living ‘generally green lives’ are reluctant to fly less and bargain flights are one thing they are reluctant to give up. Of course, one could suggest that at least all these flights heading off to sunnier climes are warming up the country for those who can’t afford to go jetting off abroad, meaning that in the long term, we’ll all need to take less flights abroad in search of the sun…but it’s a cheap gag really. The big question is, can the combined efforts of the scientific community and the Government change our attitudes further so as to encourage more responsible travel?

Equally important, how long will it be before there really is public appetite to break our cheap flight addiction? Right now, it seems only die-hard environmentalists are willing to reduce their short haul travel, and as the report concludes, even they do it reluctantly.

Entry Filed under: green issues, travel