Environment

EC Vice President Kallas commends Airport Carbon Accreditation

EC Vice President Kallas commends Airport Carbon Accreditation

18 months ago, Airport Carbon Accreditation was launched at the ACI EUROPE 2009 Annual Congress in Manchester. In the face of challenging times, the programme has nevertheless successfully established itself as the standard for carbon management at airports. Robert O’Meara reports.

European airports collective CO2 reduction adding up!

Launched 15 months ago, Airport Carbon Accreditation has steadily been gaining traction with European airports, despite difficult trading conditions. Robert O’Meara reports on the update at the 20th ACI EUROPE Annual Congress and the recent 5th Aviation and Environment Summit, organised by ATAG.

Strong cross-industry engagement at COP15

The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Copenhagen in December. The Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) – of which Airports Council International is a member – led a 30-strong cross-industry delegation in Copenhagen, which engaged with international governments and promoted aviation’s aggressive strategy to dealing with its emissions. Paul Steele, Executive Director, ATAG, outlined the key conclusions from the event to Ross Falconer.

Frankfurt: balancing expansion with noise emissions

For any airport, an ongoing commitment to monitoring and reducing the impacts of operational noise on local communities can only be achieved through close collaboration with air transport stakeholders. Louise Driscoll asked Stefan Mauel, Fraport’s head of infrastructure, about Frankfurt airport’s cooperative efforts on noise abatement measures in the context of its €4 billion Airport Expansion Programme (AEP).

AIA: Concrete action on carbon emissions

Athens International Airport (AIA) maintains an intense focus on the issue of climate change. Under the stewardship of Dr Yiannis Paraschis, immediate past-President of ACI EUROPE, AIA was a key contributor in the creation and design of Airport Carbon Accreditation. It is also among the initial participants, turning its commitment to reducing carbon emissions into concrete action. Ross Falconer spoke with Panagiotis Karamanos, Manager, Environmental Services.