US carrier Delta airlines has been attacked by environmental campaigners for flying empty aircraft across the Atlantic in to be disinfected.

The airline has admitted running ‘ghost’ flights from the US to London Heathrow in order to meet Australian quarantine regulations.  Australian regulations require inbound aircraft to be sprayed with insecticide to ward off diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, but Delta is not allowed to carry out the treatment in the US.

A spokeswoman for Delta said that materials were used for the process are approved and available in the US but regulations state that the treatments must be carried out at locations outside the US.

Environmental group, Campaign for Better Transport said the round trip taken by the Boeing 777 jet summed up the attitude of the airline industry towards global warming.

The group said that it symbolised their cavalier approach to the environment.

Delta plans to stop the Heathrow flights at the end of the month and switch to an airport in China.

The airline industry has been under great pressure to cut back its greenhouse gas emissions.  Ghost services are relatively common with BMI frequently operating empty flights from Cardiff to Heathrow in order to maintain its landing slots.