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Written Question
Aviation: Passengers
Thursday 14th March 2024

Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2024 to Question 15272 on Aviation: Passengers, if he will estimate the number of general aviation flights that landed in the UK without providing advance passenger information in each year since 2015.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Given our commitment to protecting the UK from harm, I remain unable to share figures which can reveal operational practices that could be exploited to evade border controls.


Written Question
Aviation: Passengers
Wednesday 28th February 2024

Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many general aviation flights landed at UK airports without providing advance passenger information in each year since 2015.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Given our commitment to protecting the UK from harm, I am unable to share exact breakdowns on what flights submitted Advanced Passenger Information on security grounds. This is on the basis that the figures can reveal operational practices that could be exploited to evade border controls.

Border Force performs checks on passengers arriving at the UK border and risk-based intelligence led checks on goods, enabling interventions against those known or suspected to pose a risk to the national interest.


Written Question
Aviation: Exhaust Emissions
Tuesday 23rd January 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of private jets on trends in the levels of (a) air pollution and (b) CO2 emissions.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department for Transport has recently commissioned independent research to establish a baseline of carbon emissions by the General Aviation sector, which included private jets. Officials are considering next steps in how we can utilise the data from the report to support policy development and undertake measures to further support the decarbonisation of the sector.

In relation to local air quality, the impact of a standard aircraft’s emissions plume, at or above 3,000 ft, on nitrogen oxides (NOx) ground-level concentrations is very small even in a very conservative analysis, and 1,000 ft is the typical limiting altitude for ground-level NOx concerns.

We are taking active measures to reduce emissions from aviation whilst retaining our ability to fly. The aviation sector, including business aviation, is important for the whole of the UK economy, making an important contribution in terms of connectivity, direct economic activity, trade, investment and jobs.

The Jet Zero Strategy shows that the aviation sector can achieve net zero aviation by 2050 without government intervention limiting aviation growth. We will achieve our targets by focusing on new fuels and technology, which have economic and social benefits, without limiting demand.


Written Question
Aviation: Fuels
Wednesday 22nd November 2023

Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to require aircraft to use unleaded fuels.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government is supporting the development of new aviation fuels through a range of measures including developing a Sustainable Aviation Fuels mandate and the Advanced Fuels Fund.

There are some specific issues for replacing avgas, a fuel used in piston aircraft which represents less than 1% of total UK aviation fuel use.

An unleaded alternative, Unleaded 91, is now commercially available and may be used by much of the General Aviation sector. In addition, battery-electric aircraft have been certified for use in flight training. The Government encourages General Aviation operators to use unleaded alternatives to avgas when suitable for their aircraft.

The Government has no plans to require the testing of children.

DfT will continue to monitor progress in the transition away from leaded fuels working with DEFRA and the Health and Safety Executive who lead on the regulation of chemicals.


Written Question
Blood: Lead
Wednesday 22nd November 2023

Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it her policy to measure the blood lead levels of children living near general aviation airfields.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government is supporting the development of new aviation fuels through a range of measures including developing a Sustainable Aviation Fuels mandate and the Advanced Fuels Fund.

There are some specific issues for replacing avgas, a fuel used in piston aircraft which represents less than 1% of total UK aviation fuel use.

An unleaded alternative, Unleaded 91, is now commercially available and may be used by much of the General Aviation sector. In addition, battery-electric aircraft have been certified for use in flight training. The Government encourages General Aviation operators to use unleaded alternatives to avgas when suitable for their aircraft.

The Government has no plans to require the testing of children.

DfT will continue to monitor progress in the transition away from leaded fuels working with DEFRA and the Health and Safety Executive who lead on the regulation of chemicals.


Written Question
Aviation: Carbon Emissions
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of emissions produced by private jets on the UK's ability to reach its net zero target.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Department for Transport’s Jet Zero Strategy shows that the sector can achieve net zero aviation, which includes business aviation, by 2050 without government intervention to limit aviation growth. To support this the Department for Transport recently published independent research to establish a baseline of carbon emissions emitted by the General Aviation (GA) sector, which included private jets. It highlighted the need for the sector to focus on new fuels and technology, which have economic and social benefits, without limiting demand.


Written Question
Aviation: Immigration Controls
Tuesday 17th October 2023

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many General Aviation Reports were submitted in (a) 2017 and (b) 2022.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Home Office records indicate that approximately 87,795 General Aviation Reports were submitted in 2022.

The data from 2017 is not held in a reportable format.


Written Question
Armed Forces: HIV Infection
Tuesday 3rd October 2023

Asked by: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 13 July (HL8900), which HIV specialists were consulted as part of the RAF evidence review into pilots and air traffic controllers living with HIV.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

The Royal Air Force consulted a range of primary and secondary care physicians during the development of the Aviation Medical policy relating to HIV for the Aircrew Profession. This included specialists in HIV, Infectious Diseases, Occupational Medicine, Aerospace Medicine, Aviation Psychiatry and Psychology and General Medicine as well as several General Practitioners with advanced training in Aviation Medicine.


Written Question
Aviation: Carbon Emissions
Friday 9th June 2023

Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the carbon footprint of all private jets registered in the UK.

Answered by Jesse Norman

DfT recently commissioned independent research to establish a baseline of carbon emissions emitted by the General Aviation (GA) sector, in which private jets are included. The research estimated that GA flights emitted 779kt of carbon emissions per year, based on data from 2019 obtained from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The research estimated that approximately 75% of all GA emissions relate to flights for the purposes of Business Aviation.

The research is available online, at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/decarbonising-general-aviation


Written Question
Fisheries: Older Workers
Thursday 25th May 2023

Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the medical fitness certificate on fisherman aged over 50.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Aviation, Maritime and Security) at the Department for Transport, recently met with The Right Honourable Mark Spencer MP, Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This meeting was to discuss the implementation of the medical certification requirement of the Work in Fishing Convention for those in the sector more broadly, as well as the medical fitness of those aged fifty and over.

Those working in the industry are assessed on their medical fitness, not their age, and there is no upper age limit for medical certification. Fishing remains one of the most dangerous professions in the UK, the risk level of commercial fishing in the UK is estimated to be 100 times greater than the general workforce. Medical certification ensures people don’t put themselves, their crewmates or those who have to rescue them at unnecessary risk. Extensive grandfathered protection for those working in the sector, and, to date, none have been prevented from fishing as a result of certification.