Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE; Siim Kallas, European Commission Vice President in charge of Transport; and Pierre Graff, Aéroports de Paris President & Director General. Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly airports have progressed up a level to become Airport Carbon Accredited for ‘Reduction’.
The various difficulties Europe’s airports have seen since June 2009 scarcely need to be detailed – falling traffic, industrial action by other stakeholders, new security threats and the volcanic ash shock to name but three – but despite these challenging circumstances, the environmental priority of Europe’s airports has remained intact. Airport Carbon Accreditation has experienced a steady increase in applicants, since its launch.
The past 6 months since its first birthday have seen the programme move up yet another gear, with growing participation and more political support having been secured.
11 October saw the iconic London-Heathrow – Europe’s busiest airport and the busiest airport in the world in terms of international traffic – become accredited at the ‘Optimisation’ level of the programme, a significant moment for both the airport and the programme, given the airport’s global profile.
Colin Matthews, Chief Executive of BAA, commented “If you do not effectively measure and benchmark energy use, you cannot reduce it, but that is exactly what we are doing. This accreditation is an important milestone as we seek to make every journey better. Real improvements can be made through investment and joint-working. We are committed to helping the UK meet its environmental targets and I am delighted that the great lengths that all our staff go to have been recognised.”
Switzerland’s main hub, Zurich Airport – historically, an active proponent of innovative environmental management – became Airport Carbon Accredited at the ‘Optimisation’ level of the programme in early November.
Thomas Kern, CEO, Flughafen Zürich AG said “Zurich Airport is demonstrating its progressive attitude in relevant environmental topics it can influence. Being Airport Carbon Accredited for ‘Optimisation’ strengthens its position as a leading quality airport in Europe.”
Airports rising through the programme
Brussels Airport – previously accredited for ‘Mapping’ – has progressed to the higher accreditation of ‘Reduction’. Arnaud Feist, CEO Brussels Airport: “The recent opening of our new water purification plant and our successful efforts towards Airport Carbon Accreditation demonstrate that care for the environment goes well in hand with the successful development of an international airport.”
A number of major airports have also been working their way up a level of the programme. Brussels Airport (previously accredited for ‘Mapping’) progressing to the higher accreditation of ‘Reduction’. Its certification took place on the morning of the European Aviation Summit in Bruges.
Arnaud Feist, CEO Brussels Airport commented “The recent opening of our new water purification plant and our successful efforts towards Airport Carbon Accreditation demonstrate that care for the environment goes well in hand with the successful development of an international airport.”
Meanwhile, in France, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly airports also progressed up a level to become Airport Carbon Accredited for ‘Reduction’. At a special ceremony on 6 December, Aéroports de Paris President & Director General Pierre Graff commented “This certification rewards Aéroports de Paris’ proactive stance in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In 2004, we produced 125,000 tonnes of CO2. Today, our carbon emissions are less than 100,000 tonnes.”
Athens International Airport also succeeded in moving up to the ‘Reduction’ level.
Its CEO, Dr Yiannis Paraschis said “We see in this upgrade the result of our systematic effort and commitment to reduce carbon emissions from our operations. AIA, following its annual Climate Change Corporate Action Plan, managed to reduce its annual CO2 emissions by more than 10,000 tons between 2005 and 2009. AIA is committed to further reduce its emissions over the next decade, through a number of new targeted energy-saving initiatives.”
Other new entrants
The programme made its debut in the ‘new EU member states’ in November, when Prague airport – a medium-sized hub on the up, with more than 11 million passengers a year – became accredited at the ‘Mapping’ level.
Dublin Airport Authority’s (DAA) suite of airports (Dublin, Cork & Shannon) also became accredited at the ‘Mapping’ level in November. Chief Executive Declan Collier said the accreditation is “an important first step on the road to reducing the DAA’s energy use across its three Irish airports. We are delighted to have successfully completed Level 1 of Airport Carbon Accreditation and look forward to making further progress in the months and years ahead.”
And on 14 December 2010, there was another new accreditation from Swedavia’s stable of airports – Göteborg Landvetter Airport – achieved the ‘Neutrality’ level.
More Institutional Recognition
However, the biggest news since the last issue of Airport Business magazine, is that the European Commission has commended Airport Carbon Accreditation, with European Commission Vice President in charge of Transport, Siim Kallas putting his support behind the programme and actively participating in the recent accreditation ceremonies of Brussels Airport, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly airports.
Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE; Colin Matthews, BAA Chief Executive; and Ad Rutten, ACI EUROPE President and COO, Schiphol Group. London-Heathrow – Europe’s busiest airport and the busiest airport in the world in terms of international traffic – became accredited at the ‘Optimisation’ level of Airport Carbon Accreditation on 11 October.
In European Commission press statements Vice President Kallas has said “In transport, sustainability is not an ‘optional extra’ – it has to come as standard. We can only succeed in tackling climate change if the actions of regulators are complemented by citizens and businesses taking action of their own. With over 575,000 tonnes of CO2 reduced so far, I believe that Airport Carbon Accreditation is playing a crucial role in helping to move European aviation onto a more sustainable footing.”
Vice President Kallas also congratulated ACI EUROPE on the development and industry engagement achieved by the programme.
Furthermore, the ‘Declaration of Bruges’ which came out of the European Aviation Summit, specifically mentions the programme ‘recognising the value of voluntary industry initiatives to reduce emissions, such as Airport Carbon Accreditation’.
Press coverage in transport and environmental media is steadily increasing, alongside our coverage in industry initiatives including over 80,000 copies of the Air Transport Action Group’s Green Flight Times, distributed at major events including the ICAO Environment Symposium, the Farnborough Air Show, the Aviation & Environment Summit and the COP16 Climate Change negotiations in Cancun, Mexico.
The past six months have also seen Airport Carbon Accreditation become more visible to passengers too, in the form of a campaign entitled ‘This airport is participating in Airport Carbon Accreditation’, now active at airports in Athens, Brussels, Milan (Linate & Malpensa), Stockholm (Arlanda & Bromma), Umea City, Istanbul-Ataturk and Izmir. Traffic to the Airport Carbon Accreditation website is rising steadily each month and the programme has recently launched a dedicated Facebook page as well.
With 29 airports in 15 European countries now Airport Carbon Accredited, the year ahead looks set to bring even more progress, as new applicants seek to achieve certification and established participants renew. The airports accredited to date welcome 35% of European passenger traffic each year. Even more accreditations are expected in the coming months. ACI EUROPE has set the ambitious goal of having airports representing 50% of European passenger traffic Airport Carbon Accredited by end of 2012, so watch this space!
