Leicestershire Aero Club Ltd

In 2009 the Leicestershire Aero Club celebrated its 100th year.

Leicestershire has always been interested in aviation. Even as early as 1826 there had been a balloon ascent from Belgrave Park watched by a crowd of thousands, followed by a rather unfortunate attempt in 1866 when the prominent balloonist, Henry Coxwell, refused to take a member of the crowd aloft and therefore suffered the indignity of the Leicester Foresters forcing him to deflate the balloon, whereupon they shredded it and set fire to the basket! And had Percy Pilcher not been killed in an unfortunate gliding accident at Stanford Hall in 1899, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, could have been the birthplace of powered flight, not Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Leicestershire Aero Club is proud to announce that we are believed to be the UK’s first carbon-neutral flying school.

We have chosen to offset our carbon footprint through a partnership with General Aviation Carbon Offsetting who have certified us carbon-neutral for our first month.

In June 2021, the club fleet flew a total of 445 hours, using 9,711 liters of AvGAS. This resulted in a calculated 22.2 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Leicestershire Aero Club has chosen to offset this with tree planting with a distribution of 25% in the UK, and the remaining 75% worldwide in deforested areas which need trees the most.

Our flying is a mixture of commercial and non-commercial training as well as recreational flying. We are aware that we have an impact on the environment and want to make some effort to reduce our carbon footprint. This commitment will continue through our partnership with GACO to achieve ongoing certification.