Heathrow a ‘catalyst of environmental innovation’

ACI EUROPE Best Airport Award

John Holland-Kaye, CEO London Heathrow Airport, was presented the ACI EUROPE Best Airport Award in the ‘Over 25 million passengers’ category by Matej Zakonjšek, Head of EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc’s cabinet.

London Heathrow was a double winner at this year’s ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards, securing both the ‘Over 25 million passengers’ award and the ‘Eco-Innovation’ award. That success was quickly followed by the UK Airports Commission’s recommendation for a third runway at Heathrow. The airport’s CEO John Holland-Kaye was interviewed by Ross Falconer.

London Heathrow is putting both the passenger and the local resident at the heart of its expansion strategy, working hard to maximise the economic benefits that the airport brings, while carefully managing its environmental responsibilities and being a good neighbour to its local communities.

This was recognised at the 2015 ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards, where Heathrow won both the ‘Over 25 million passengers’ award and the ‘Eco-Innovation’ award. The judges praised Heathrow for building and opening the new Terminal 2: The Queen’s Terminal on time and in a congested area, while securing excellent customer satisfaction ratings. They also noted Heathrow’s role as a “catalyst of environmental innovation”, highlighting its “excellent track record of reducing emissions”.

“I am immensely proud to receive these awards on behalf of all the people who work every day to make Heathrow better for its passengers,” John Holland-Kaye, CEO London Heathrow Airport, commented. “Heathrow plays a hugely important role both as the front door to the UK and also by connecting British people, exporters and exports to markets across the globe. Our efforts to make this one of the best airports in the world have been recognised.”

The awards followed a record year in 2014, when Heathrow handled 73.4 million passengers, and further growth is expected in 2015 through the use of larger and fuller aircraft, and some new short and long haul routes.

£11 billion (€15bn) has been invested in Heathrow’s transformation since 2003, and this was crowned by the opening of Terminal 2: The Queen’s Terminal last year. The next phase will be to demolish Terminal 1, which closed in June, extend Terminal 2, and then close Terminal 3.

Holland-Kaye emphasised that Heathrow’s approach to expansion has involved listening to local residents and understanding how expansion can better fit into the local community. “My team spends a considerable amount of time listening to the views of local residents and elected representatives. We meet with them regularly through forums such as the Heathrow Airport Consultative Committee, and the Heathrow Community Noise Forum,” he explained. “This constructive dialogue has helped us to understand the main issues of local concern regarding Heathrow’s operations and how we can respond positively to them.”

On air quality, Heathrow has a good track record of reducing emissions. By establishing a free local bus travel area, and encouraging car sharing and cycling, it has reduced the proportion of airport workers travelling by single use car from almost 80% to just over 50%. “By charging more for polluting aircraft we have encouraged airlines to bring their cleanest, quietest planes to Heathrow,” Holland-Kaye said. “Our focus on air quality has reduced ground-based NOx emissions from airport activity by 16% over a five-year period.”

On surface access, over 40% of passengers travel to the airport by public transport today – with expansion it will be over 50%.

“Although Heathrow is now quieter than it’s been at any time since the 1970s, we know we must do more to reduce airport noise impacts,” Holland-Kaye added. “We recently released a blueprint for noise reduction – a 10-point plan to cut noise. I have written to the CEOs of 40 airlines to ask them to do their part; phasing out of the remaining noisiest planes, operating continuous descent approaches, a delay in lowering landing gear, and modifying A320s to reduce noise. We are also working with BA to trial steeper angles of descent, keeping planes higher over London.”

Meanwhile, on local employment, 50% of colleagues at Heathrow are from the local area, with 5,000 local students each year currently going through Heathrow educational programmes. The Heathrow Academy also offers job opportunities, recruitment and apprenticeships.

“I believe that there is a huge opportunity for an expanded Heathrow to act as a catalyst for environmental innovation, research and development – that will not only improve the local environment, but create green jobs and support the UK’s burgeoning green economy,” Holland-Kaye enthused. “We will create the world’s best connected, most efficient and most environmentally responsible hub airport at the heart of an integrated transport system.”


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