Budget 2013: Funds to develop greener planes take off

Ahead of the budget, the business secretary, Vince Cable, unveiled a new package of funding to support the aviation industry in the UK

This includes £1 billion of public money to help establish the country’s first aerospace technology institute (ATI). The business department says the ATI will allow industry and academic researchers to develop technology for quieter, more energy-efficient aircraft.

It estimates that improvements to aircraft technologies developed through the ATI will lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions of more than 100 million tonnes each year from the next generation of planes.

At the same time, the transport department has published an aviation strategy that aims to reduce aircraft noise through technology; the creation of noise “envelopes” around airports; and further use of noise abatement operational procedures. It also sets out how the aviation sector in the UK will help reduce global emissions from aviation.