Airlines with more first-class passengers 'to land first at airports'
Planes carrying more business or first class passengers could be given priority to land in the future.
Richard Deakin, chief executive of National Air Traffic Services (Nats), told The Sunday Times (£) the new plans would see air traffic controllers prioritise flights carrying "high-value customers".
Airlines would be able to request priority to allow them to jump the queue, but Deakin added that airlines would not be able to land before other carriers and flights could only land earlier than others within the same airline.
Doug Maclean, a former Nats manager told The Times that the move would change the "whole philosophy of air traffic control".
He said: "At the moment it is first come, first served. Whether or not you are flying with easyJet or [as] a premium passenger in a first-class cabin of a new shiny Airbus A380 doesn't make the slightest bit of difference. Air traffic control are not involved in commercial decisions."
The number of luxury air passengers is increasing, with airlines adding more premium economy cabins, first class suites and business class only flights.
In 2013, it was reported that first class travel is more damaging to the environment than economy and that the average economy class passenger has a carbon footprint of 0.76, while a business class traveller has a carbon footprint of 2.30 and a first class passenger has a carbon footprint of 6.89.
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