he climate change effects of expanding UK airport capacity have been put under intense legal scrutiny as the aviation industry warned that it was in serious financial straits.
During a two-day appeal hearing this week, judges in the Supreme Court heard detailed arguments about whether the government was right to greenlight a third runway at Heathrow.
The Court of Appeal had concluded in February that the government had not properly taken account of its own climate change commitments when approving a national policy statement on aviation in 2018. The judgment was branded a “major environmental breakthrough” and the court itself described it as a case of “exceptional public interest”.
