Luton Airport expansion challenge heads to Court of Appeal

The owner of the airport, Luton Rising, which is a company owned by Luton Council, is an interested party in the case.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander granted consent for the construction of a new airport terminal in April last year, paving the way for the airport’s passenger capacity to double.
Luton And District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise's (LADACAN) ensuing High Court challenge argued that the decision involved a flawed environmental impact assessment (EIA) and ignored the Supreme Court's decision in R (Finch) v Surrey County Council & Ors [2024] UKSC 20, [2024] PTSR 988.

The decision in Finch held that an EIA must assess the downstream climate effects of the combustion of oil produced by a development.

Mr Justice Lang ultimately rejected the group's claim on all grounds, prompting the group to apply to the Court of Appeal.

LADACAN is now set to argue at a two-day Court of Appeal hearing next week (19 and 20 May) that the High Court decision is flawed on the following grounds:
• The exclusion of greenhouse gas emissions from inbound flights in the EIA was unlawful.
• The assessment of non-carbon dioxide emissions was inadequate and unlawful.
• The Government’s duties under the Climate Change Act 2008 do not in themselves comprise a “pollution control regime”.

The appellants are represented by Leigh Day’s environment team, and Estelle Dehon KC, Ruchi Parekh and Hannah Taylor of Cornerstone Barristers.

Andrew Lambourne, chair of LADACAN, said that if the High Court's decision stands, "it would legally authorise the systematic omission of up to five-sixths of the actual climate impact of airport expansion from environmental assessments – and not just at Luton".

He added: "The same approach was used in approving Gatwick's expansion just months later. This is precisely the kind of absurdity that the principles established in the Supreme Court's Finch judgment are intended to prevent."

Leigh Day partner Ricardo Gama, meanwhile, said: “LADACAN does not believe that the High Court properly grappled with implications of the Supreme Court’s judgment in the landmark case of Finch and we are pleased that a panel of three judges in the Court of Appeal will reconsider this important issue.”

A spokesperson for Luton Rising said: "Luton Rising is an interested party in the proceedings and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."

Adam Carey