Advancing UK Aerospace, Defence, Security & Space Solutions Worldwide
  • Home
  • /
  • Aerospace
  • /
  • Airports continue carbon savings despite COVID-19 challenges

Aerospace Events

Airports continue carbon savings despite COVID-19 challenges

As the global airport industry convenes in Cancun, Mexico for the 31st ACI LAC World Annual General Assembly, the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme published its first carbon performance results for the reporting period May 2019 to May 2021 - two years heavily marked by the COVID-19 crisis.


Image courtesy ACI EUROPE

In spite of the devastation suffered by the industry at large, the collective carbon management of airports in Years 11 and 121 of the programme yielded a reduction of 347,718 tonnes of CO2e (-5.5%) within the emissions under direct control of airport operators (i.e. Scope 1 and 2 as per GHG Protocol). This amount of CO2 can be compared to the full lifecycle emissions of 4,967,400 iPhones2. The following absolute emissions savings achieved by airports in their respective regions contributed to this result3.
 
•    Africa: -5,998 tonnes of CO2 (-2.3%)
•    Asia-Pacific: -73,523 tonnes of CO2 (-2.6%)
•    Europe: -154,432 tonnes of CO2 (-7.9%)
•    Latin America & the Caribbean: -6,787 tonnes of CO2 (-7.7%)
•    North America: -106,979 tonnes of CO2 (-8.3%)

Advertisement
ODU RT

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, despite the dire financial and operational conditions, 67 new airports joined the global effort to mitigate carbon emissions and thus became certified under Airport Carbon Accreditation. Currently, there are 362 airports addressing carbon emissions across the six levels of the programme.

Olivier Jankovec, ACI EUROPE Director General said: “There is no more ruthless test for an industry’s pledges to address its environmental footprint than being exposed to a crisis. When we look at the COVID-19 crisis, the magnitude of challenges it presents for the aviation industry and airports in particular is historical. Faced with terrible odds, it would have been easy to say 'We cannot do this right now. We need to put out one fire first, before we can address the next one' but this is exactly the opposite of what I have witnessed so far. The shift in the aviation industry’s commitment and indeed delivery of climate action is palpable.

“I am proud to note that airports are not sitting on the sidelines of this momentum, waiting for the bigger emitters in the sector to move first. Airports have always been and are today a powerhouse of decarbonisation and today’s announcement is another case in point for this claim. We are addressing our slice of the problem right now and making sure that we will be reliable partners for the entire eco-system in its drive to transform in the future. It is a defining moment for our industry and seeing the ambition and the perseverance that is shining through airports’ efforts in driving CO2 emissions down is a source of hope in this difficult time.”
 

To find out more about the programme and access the full list of accredited airports, go to: www.airportcarbonaccreditation.org

Advertisement
DSEI 2025

 

 

Manchester Airport has busiest ever June

Aerospace

Manchester Airport has busiest ever June

11 July 2025

More than three million passengers travelled through Manchester Airport last month – the first time the UK’s global gateway in the North has passed that mark in June.

Lane Electronics to showcase defence connectivity at MSPO

Aerospace Defence Events

Lane Electronics to showcase defence connectivity at MSPO

11 July 2025

Lane Electronics, a franchised distributor for many of the industry’s major electrical, electronic and optical connector manufacturers, will be Exhibiting at MSPO 2025 (2nd–5th September 2025, Kielce, Poland), where they will be displaying the latest connector innovations and demonstrating their UK based assembling and value add services.

LK Metrology acquires ProCon X-Ray

Aerospace

LK Metrology acquires ProCon X-Ray

11 July 2025

Best known as a manufacturer and global supplier of coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) and more recently laser scanning sensors, Castle Donington based LK Metrology Ltd has acquired ProCon X-Ray GmbH, a specialist German manufacturer of computed tomography (CT) systems.

Titan Airways adds first Embraer E190LR to its fleet

Aerospace

Titan Airways adds first Embraer E190LR to its fleet

11 July 2025

Stansted based European charter airline, Titan Airways, has announced that it had completed the purchase of its first Embraer E190LR regional jet.

Advertisement
ODU RT
Flitetec secures two distribution agreements

Aerospace Defence Events

Flitetec secures two distribution agreements

11 July 2025

Amersham based aerospace business Flitetec, has confirmed two major deals that it shook on at the recent Paris Air Show.

IFS appoints Kriti Sharma as CEO of Nexus Black

Aerospace Security

IFS appoints Kriti Sharma as CEO of Nexus Black

11 July 2025

IFS has appointed Kriti Sharma as CEO of IFS Nexus Black. This strategic move reinforces IFS’s commitment to industrial AI and fast-tracks the development of agentic AI systems designed for the asset- and service-intensive industries it serves.

Advertisement
Teledyne