THE Council for the Protection of Rural England has launched a campaign against plans to expand Britain's airports to cope with the growing demand for air travel.

It argues that the price to be paid by those living near airports and the environment is too high. More specifically it suggests that the economic benefits of airport expansion are over-estimated by Government and the aviation industry.

The council's arguments certainly have some force in the South-East of England. The very nature of its overcrowded skies, roads, towns and villages mean that more and bigger airports will inevitably lead to greater noise pollution and the loss of precious green fields.

Away from the Greater London area, the council's case is less persuasive. Its suggestion that better air links lead to more British people holidaying abroad and more investment by British firms overseas rather than at home is Mickey Mouse economics. The assertion that it also encourages supermarkets to import more cheap produce from abroad at the expense of British farmers is similarly one-eyed.

CPRE's solution to growing demand for better air links is to raise taxes on air travel and that holy grail - an integrated transport system, with high-speed electric rail meeting the demand for short-haul domestic journeys. Unfortunately, in the North-East the inter-city rail network is already at full capacity and the cost and chaotic structure of the industry means users are unlikely to see significant improvements in the short term. Thankfully, our airports at Teesside, Newcastle and Leeds/Bradford, all earmarked for further development, can easily handle additional traffic without adding appreciably to the environmental burden around them. Even the prospect of a new North-South flight path over the North York Moors National Park is not unthinkable, given the height domestic airliners fly at. Military aircraft will always be a cause of greater nuisance here.

The CPRE is right to closely examine the Government's apparent unquestioning enthusiasm for air travel, but its solution to growing demand - raising the cost of it through the tax system and quantum improvements to the inter-city rail system - is elitist and unrealistic.