Airport World takes a closer look at some of the sustainability stories making headlines across globe in the final quarter of the year.
Taking Airport Carbon Accreditation to the next level
Amsterdam Schiphol, Christchurch, Göteborg Landvetter, Madeira, Malmö and Rotterdam The Hague airports are among the first 10 airports on the planet to achieve Level 5 certification in ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation programme.
The new highest level in the programme builds on the trajectory of evolution set by the introduction of Levels 4 and 4+ in 2020 and provides further evidence of the airport industry’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.
Talking about Amsterdam Schiphol, the Royal Schiphol Group’s head of sustainability, Denise Pronk, enthused: “This accreditation is a significant milestone and it’s in line with our ambition to be the most sustainable and high-quality airport in the world.
“We lowered the CO2 emissions produced by our own activities by 90% compared to 2010. But we’re not stopping there; we continue to work towards emission-free airports in 2030.
“Schiphol and partners’ electric ground equipment fleet is getting bigger and bigger, we run entirely on Dutch wind power, and the terminal and our buildings are gradually being taken off the gas grid. At the same time, we continue to work on making aviation more sustainable.”
Fellow Royal Schiphol Group airports Eindhoven and Rotterdam The Hague were also among the first 10 airports in the world to achieve Level 5 Airport Carbon Accreditation.
Eindhoven recently signed a long-term agreement with Shell to blend sustainable aviation fuel on all aircraft fuelled at the airport, starting from next year.
“Sustainable fuel is essential for the future of aviation”, says RTM’s CEO, Wilma van Dijk. “This long-term agreement makes it possible for Shell to invest in production facilities while allowing airlines to gradually adapt to a new reality.”
On Christchurch Airport’s top level ranking in ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, sustainability transition leader, Claire Waghorn, said: “This is a moon shot moment for our team. This is a challenging sector to abate and no one is under any illusion – we have a whole lot more work to do to decouple carbon from aviation and make the zero aviation dream a reality.
“However, we recognise the critical role that aviation plays, especially for isolated nations, and therefore are committed to being part of the solution. That’s why 90% of the work we do now focuses on how we can help other businesses, including our airline partners decarbonise.
“As a business we are working hard. We are building a 400-hectare renewable energy precinct, Kōwhai Park, to provide the green energy low emission aircraft will need in the future.”
The other gateways to achive Level 5 Airport Carbon Accreditation certification are Beja and Ponta Delgada airports in Portugal and Toulon-Hyères in France, which along with Madeira are all operated by VINCI Airports.
Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and president of VINCI Airports, said: “I am proud of what VINCI Airports’ teams have achieved in France and in Portugal. This is just the beginning, because climate action can’t wait. We are accelerating decarbonisation and making low carbon transition a priority to achieve net zero emissions on our direct emissions by 2030 at our airports in the European Union and at London Gatwick, and by 2050 for our network in the rest of the world.”
Milestone flight for Virgin, Heathrow and aviation
History was made at London’s Heathrow Airport on November 28 when a Virgin Atlantic B787 to New York became the first transatlantic flight powered by 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Flight 100 was powered by SAF made from waste fats which cannot enter the food chain. Repurposing waste products into jet fuel to cut emissions arguably provides the most immediate solution to help decarbonise the world’s skies.
Virgin Atlantic and their consortium were awarded up to £1 million of UK Government funding in December 2022 following a challenge from the Department for Transport to support the industry in achieving the first transatlantic flight on a commercial aircraft powered by 100% SAF.
Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Atlantic said: “The flight proves that Sustainable Aviation Fuel can be used as a safe, drop-in replacement for fossil-derived jet fuel and it’s the only viable solution for decarbonising long haul aviation.”
New solar farm for Queen Alia International Airport
The groundbreaking ceremony for a new 4.8 MWphotovoltaic (PV) solar farm was held at Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport (AMM) in early December.
The new facility will be designed, built and operated by Shams al Mattar lil-Taqa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kawar Investment, under the terms of an agreement signed with AMM operator, Airport International Group (AIG), earlier this year.
It will be located on 65,000sqm of unused land to the north of the Northern Runway and is expected to generate over 10.5GWh of electricity yearly, which will account for more than 24.5% of the airport’s operational energy requirements or the equivalent of powering over 3,000 homes.
Equally as important, it will reduce AMM’s carbon footprint by around 12,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually. The solar farm is expected to begin producing electricity by Q3 2024.
AIG CEO, Nicolas Claude, noted: “The establishment of this solar farm is a crucial step towards reducing our carbon footprint and propelling us as one of the largest solar-powered airports in the MENA region.”
Glasgow to boast Scotland’s largest airport solar farm
Work has begun on the creation of Scotland’s largest airport-based solar farm at Glasgow Airport, the £18.5 million will be built, owned and operated by Zestec Renewable Energy.
Construction will take place over the coming months, with completion of the first phase expected in summer 2024. On completion the 19.9MW solar plant will produce enough energy equivalent to powering the lights of approximately 15% of homes in the city of Glasgow.
Glasgow Airport’s operations director, Ronald Leitch, enthused: “The development of the solar farm marks a key milestone in our sustainability journey by giving the airport the ability to generate clean energy on-site.
“This will advance our plans to decarbonise our own operations while supporting the net-zero ambitions of our airport partners and neighbours. Importantly, it also creates the foundation to turn the airport into an energy hub and allows us to progress our plans to support zero emission flight.”
San Diego building climate resilient future
San Diego County Regional Airport Authority outlines its commitment to the environment and being a good neighbour in its latest annual Sustainability & DEI Report.
The Environmental section focuses on ways in which the airport authority is building towards a climate resilient future through seven programmatic areas including water stewardship, carbon neutrality, clean transportation, climate resilience, zero waste, biodiversity, and sustainable energy.
“The New T1 epitomises our commitment to focusing on the environmental, social, and economic influence we have on our region, and we strive to ensure that each step we take leads us toward a more sustainable and prosperous tomorrow,” enthused airport authority president and CEO, Kimberly Becker.