The future of Shoreham Airport is in the balance. Karen Hoy investigates the implications of expanding England's oldest airport into a leading player in the regional aviation industry.

THE figures speak for themselves. Our skies generate an income which helps keep 180,000 people in the UK employed in the airline industry.

The industry contributes £10.2 billion to the UK's gross domestic product and that figure is set to increase.

The number of air passengers is also expected to grow by five per cent a year and the air freight market by seven per cent a year over the next two decades.

The Government has recognised the rate of expansion and is planning a long-term framework for the industry, with the aim of ensuring the future of UK air transport is a safe and sustainable one.

Last week, The Argus revealed the findings of a Department of Transport paper on the future of regional air transport, which highlighted Shoreham Airport as a possible gateway for about half a million passengers.

The report states: "An upper limit of 500,000 passengers per annum was assumed. The runway length is the key constraint to development."

Last year, Shoreham handled just 924 commercial passengers so the increase would be dramatic.

But Shoreham is seen as being key to solving the problems of the increased numbers of passengers. Any expansion at Gatwick has been ruled out as another runway cannot be built there until 2019.

The suggested increase of passenger services out of Shoreham is welcomed by local businesses and by Labour Brighton and Hove city councillor Mike Middleton, who chairs the Shoreham Airport Committee.

He said: "It is something we always wanted and have been striving for over many years."

Airport manager John Haffenden said it made sense to encourage people to use regional airports. The idea for Shoreham was not to run low-cost carriers. The emphasis would be on scheduled business services and Mr Haffenden added there would be a limit to the size of aircraft using the airport.

But despite reassurances that jumbo jets packed with holiday-makers would not be rattling over the coast, there is dissent about the possibility that up to 500,000 passengers could be taking off from Shoreham.

Dr Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP for South-East England and the European Parliament's spokeswoman on aviation and the environment, objects to the plan.

In February, she drew up proposals, adopted by the European Parliament, to force governments to consider the health implications of new transport projects from 2003 and has published a number of reports on the economic, social and environmental impact of the industry.

She wants to restrict the demand for flying and therefore eliminate the need for expansion at Shoreham by ending the £180-a-year subsidy we each pay to the airline industry.

She said: "Shoreham, classified a Flood Warning Area by the Environment Agency, is no place for an international airport.

"The South Downs national park and some of the county's mostly densely-populated residential areas would be blighted by noise and pollution. The Sussex road network would be brought to a standstill."

Ms Lucas believes there is a way to limit the number of people taking to the skies - by making the airline industry pay the full cost of flying.

She said: "Airlines pay no VAT on new aircraft or the cost of ticketing. Incredibly, aviation fuel is zero-rated too - and to make matters worse, the industry is shielded from its true social and environmental costs. The costs of pollution-related ill health, an estimated £1.3 billion a year, are borne by the NHS."

She believes if the true cost of flying was passed on to passengers, flying would not be such an attractive option. Demand would increase at a far slower rate.

She said: "Studies show if aviation fuel was taxed at the same rate as petrol, 164 million fewer flights would be made annually by 2020. That's the equivalent of 500 small airports like Shoreham being spared expansion.

"As South-East England's Green MEP, I've worked hard at the European level to pass the true costs of flying on to the industry. I will be calling on the Government to abandon plans to expand Shoreham and other airports in the region. I urge the people of Sussex to do the same."

Sussex Enterprise, which represents businesses in the region, has been campaigning for Gatwick Airport to be expanded but welcomed any expansion of Shoreham.

Area director Mike Cook said: "Sussex Enterprise is campaigning to include expansion at Gatwick Airport as a serious option for consideration.

"However, if this becomes unlikely we would need to look into other areas that would help boost the business environment.

"Without expansion at Gatwick, the future productivity of Sussex will be under threat.

"If development at Shoreham Airport delivered significant economic benefits to the business community with minimal affect on the environment, we would welcome it."