Air quality

What is air quality?
Air quality is affected by pollutants released into the atmosphere from activities such as transport and power generation. Airports create pollutants that affect air quality but by far the largest single contributor to air pollutants in the UK currently is road traffic.

High levels of pollutants in the air can harm human health and the environment. 

Although everybody is at some risk when air pollution is high, people with existing lung diseases or heart conditions are at greater risk especially if they are young or elderly.

Sources of emissions
The pollutants released at airports can be categorised into the following main sources:

  • Aircraft: engine emissions during taxiing and in the air, during testing on the ground; an aircraft's auxiliary power unit (on-board generator) whilst being prepared for flight.
  • Local road traffic: non-airport related vehicles (70-90%) and airport related vehicles (10-30%) on local roads such as the M56 motorway.
  • airport site vehicles: airside and landside vehicles; ground support equipment, car parking.
  • Other: boiler houses; evaporative emissions from fuel storage tanks.

Each source of pollutants releases different amounts of a range of pollutants.

Examples of pollutants that are often monitored at airports are nitrogen oxides (NOx) and PM10 - fine particulate matter (dust).