Geographical Magazine

We fly a lot! The UK has the dubious honour of being the third-with a record 302 million passengers using UK airports in 2025. This has resulted in an unprecedented boom in planning applications to expand our airports. If they all go ahead, capacity would rise to 520 million passengers a year and, as our report on Page 23 reveals, would make a nonsense of our legally-binding commitments to control carbon output.
Our report stemmed from an in-depth look at one of the planning battles
resulting from this boom in our new podcast series, On the Ground. In the first episode, Laura Cole tells the story of the campaign to stop the expansion of Bristol Airport, revealing a baffling lack of a joined-up national plan for dealing with such demand. She also uncovers the fascinating tale of how the project was nearly funded by teachers in Canada.
You can listen to On the Ground through all of the usual podcast platforms
– follow it and you won’t miss any of Laura’s forthcoming episodes on
environmental stories with a big impact, or hear how people have got involved in fighting for a better future.