Air travel is cheap these days, allowing ordinary people to travel further. Some people say that airfare should be increased because this leads to environmental problems. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Air travel is cheap these days, allowing ordinary people to travel further. Some people say that airfare should be increased because this leads to environmental problems. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

 

Ielts Essay - Cheap Air Travel 

Despite, air travel becoming affordable due to cheap price of tickets it is also drawing a lot of flak on account of being most polluting medium of transportation. This is prompted some to suggest that air tariffs should be raised in order to bring down the pollution.

Affordable airlines tarrifs have truly changed the face of the world.  The benefits are too obvious: low cost of travelling by air has helped foster a sense of equality among the masses – by virtue of people from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds being able to use airlines to travel to various far-off destinations. Today, it is easy to find people frequenting airports to travel for expanding their businesses and seeking employment in really distant and formerly unapproachable locations.

Similarly, reduced air tariffs have stimulated an unprecedented growth in tourism and travel industry, and created opportunities for a harmonious environment. Now, people from various walks of life can plan journeys to destinations, for leisure and vacations, of their choice, regardless of their incomes. This travelling across to various distant destinations has created opportunities for intermingling with natives of those locations, and thus develop a sense of brotherhood. 

However, the environmentalists attribute most of the problems related to deteriorating environment to an increase in the number of aircraft flying. A rise in number of planes taking to skies has led to a spike in use fossil fuel, thereby increasing gas emissions. Moreover, this has also led to increase in size of airports, which is of course done by clearing green cover.

Henceforth,  although aircraft are a major source of pollution, raising ticket prices would not help, and instead would prove counter productive. The need is to find greener alternatives to fossil fuels since solution lies in accelerating development rather stopping it.