He may be less than a week into his new job, but Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon has already attracted the ire of environmentalists after today giving the green light to plans to expand the number of flights to and from Stansted airport in Essex.

In a written statement, Hoon confirmed that he had approved two changes to planning conditions at Stansted that will allow the number of flights to and from the airport to increase from 241,000 to 264,000 a year, while the number of passengers will be allowed to increase 40 per cent to 35 million people per year.

The ruling overturns the decision last year by Uttlesford District Council to block the plans over concerns about increased noise pollution and environmental effects.

The Department for Transport ruled that while there were some legitimate concerns over increased levels of air pollution, these were no large enough to block the changes.

"There is an urgent need for additional runway capacity in the South East," said aviation minister Jim Fitzpatrick. "We were clear in the Aviation White Paper that the first priority was to make best use of the runways, including using the remaining capacity at Stansted."

He added that air travel was "essential" to the UK economy and prosperity, with the aviation industry employing 200,000 people directly and creating a further 600,000 jobs.

The decision attracted immediate condemnation from green groups, who accused Hoon of missing his first opportunity to signal a change in direction at the Department for Transport in favour of lower carbon transport infrastructure.

"Allowing 10 million more people to fly from Stansted each year shows the government’s climate change strategy is a complete shambles," said Friends of the Earth's transport campaigner Tony Bosworth. "Only last week the government was advised to cut UK carbon dioxide emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 – allowing airports to grow will make these targets almost impossible to meet."

Last week, Climate Change Committee chairman Lord Turner said that the inability of the aviation and shipping industries to decarbonise their operations in the short to medium term meant that the entire UK energy sector would have to cut emissions to almost zero by 2030 if the revised 80 per cent target is to be reached.

Environmentalists also expressed concern that the Stansted decision made approval for plans to build new runways at Heathrow and Stansted more likely, although the Department for Transport denied that the decision would have an impact on any future planning rulings.