A call to end the Fairford Air Tattoo's charitable status
A big campaign against the Fairford Air Tattoo's RAF charitable status has just formed. The Fairford Air Tattoo is one of the largest air shows in the world and each year tonnes and tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions are created by the event, polluting the atmosphere in a major way. And for what - a bit of entertainment?
A new campaign group called The Royal Internation Air Tattoo - No Thanks (RIAT-NT) has formed to campaign against one of the most unsustainable events of the year in Britain. The Fairford Air Tattoo is one of the largest air shows there is with over 155,000 tickets sold last year. A lot of those tickets went to people who then flew over to watch the flying show. The event is extremely controversial in the Gloucesterchire region and is deeply resented by many local people. It also makes a complete mockery of personal sacrifices being made at a local level due to individuals concerns about climate change.
As well as the climate impacts there is also the question over the validity of encouraging youngsters into aviation. The charitable trust's website states that "at the heart of the trust is it's commitment to young people, to initiate and develop within them an enthusiasm for aviation and all it's guises." Young people face a bleak future as a consequence of runaway climate change and will have to learn how to live in a low carbon future. Being sucked into becoming the new generation to push the aviation agenda is definetly not the right step.
Financially the aviation industry is highly subsidized compared to other industries. It receives £9 billion annually in fuel tax exemptions and there is also no VAT on ticket sales. Charitable support is definetly not needed.
To find out more check out: http://www.riat-nt.blogspot.com/
To sign the petition go to: http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/riatnt
