"The drive for sustainable development through efficiencies is a genuine one, but it has to match growth. In the short term they won't be able to do that," said Professor Paul Hooper, Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University.
GROWTH DILEMMA
Efforts to reduce the environmental impact of aviation could produce efficiencies of 1-2 percent a year against traffic recently rising as much as 6 percent a year, he said.
To compensate for this, the industry tends to argue that air travel has social and economic benefits that justify its growth.
Environmental groups say aviation say aviation is not pulling its weight in protecting the environment and criticise what they see as comparatively low taxes on airplane fuel.
The mood on the commercial side of the Farnborough Airshow remained sour as executives assessed how to tackle oil around $145 a barrel. But defence industry chalets were busy with briefings on missile defences amid tensions in the Gulf.
Most airplane orders have come from the Gulf offset by a cyclical drop in orders from elsewhere, exacerbated by high oil prices and credit fears.
On Tuesday, Dubai Aerospace confirmed an order for 100 Airbus planes worth $13 billion (6.5 billion pounds). Air China announced overnight an order for 45 Boeing planes worth $6.3 billion.
About 350 firm orders for planes were announced during the first two days of the week-long aviation jamboree.
The opening days traditionally account for the bulk of any business. Some 600 planes were ordered in Paris in 2007.
The large aircraft industry's traditional cycle of growth and deceleration usually lasts about a decade but in recent years it had managed a record peak, both in duration and the sheer number of planes on order.
