Aviation Sustainability and the Environment, CAPA 10-Mar-2020

This CAPA report features a summary of recent aviation sustainability and environment news, selected from the 300+ news alerts published daily by CAPA. For more information, please contact us

Schiphol Group CEO: Sustainability a 'key mandate' for the group and industry

Royal Schiphol Group president and CEO Dick Benschop said (09-Mar-2020) sustainability will be a "key mandate" for the aviation sector in the medium term. He reiterated Schiphol Group's intention to achieve zero emissions at Schiphol, Eindhoven, Rotterdam The Hague and Lelystad airports during the 2020s, including CO2, NOx and ultrafine particle emissions, through the switch to electric ground handling vehicles, fleet renewal, R&D in innovation and technology and scaling up sustainable aviation fuels. [more - original PR]

Excerpt from original report: Sustainability

As we consider the world of 2050, sustainability will be a key mandate for the aviation sector. We have made no secret of our ambitions as expressed in our Climate Plan. It is our intention in the 2020s to achieve zero emissions at Schiphol, Eindhoven, Rotterdam The Hague and Lelystad airports. Many of the measures we are taking will reduce CO2 , NOx and UFP emissions. We want to do our part to develop a net-zero aviation sector in line with the Paris agreements. This is a tough task; fortunately, our sector partners are also involved - at the climate roundtable for aviation.

In addition to reducing emissions at and around airports (we are switching to electric ground-handling vehicles), the most important task is fleet renewal and introducing and scaling up sustainable fuels. We are on our way: consider KLM's investment with SkyNRG in Europe's first sustainable aircraft fuel plant, in the Dutch port city of Delfzijl. We also need to increase R&D around hybrid and electric flying; TU Delft, NLR and GKN Fokker are ready. As long as there are emissions, compensation programmes will remain vital. Everyone has a responsibility here - look at the work easyJet is doing, and at the initiatives being taken by travel organisations in the Netherlands.

We will only succeed if we find the best possible combination of innovation, investment and policy, which is not yet the case. Simply raising taxes and fees on the sector makes no sense; sustainability must be actively pursued, under the supervision of the level playing field for aviation. That is why the European Commission's Green Deal is so important. If a sensible European approach is adopted, with an international obligation to use a mix of sustainable fuels, then we will really be on our way to achieving our goals.

Air transport brings so many benefits, that simply asking people not to fly is not the answer. Clearly, consumers have to make responsible choices, including compensating for carbon emissions. What we really need, however, is a system transition. More of the same is not the answer for the aviation sector, but less of the same should not be the ambition for the environmental movement. What we need is to fly in a different, sustainable way

Seoul Incheon Airport issues procurement tender for hydrogen fuel cell buses

Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) reportedly issued a procurement tender for seven hydrogen fuel cell buses for use at Seoul Incheon International Airport (Today Energy, 09-Mar-2020). As previously reported by CAPA, IIAC is developing a hydrogen filling station at Seoul Incheon to supply fuel for hydrogen buses, which it plans to deploy to transport passengers between terminal 1 and terminal 2.

Manchester Airport commits to net zero carbon emissions by 2050

Manchester Airport, via its official Twitter account, announced (07-Mar-2020) it signed a pledge to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, as part of the Sustainable Aviation coalition.

UK's Sustainable Aviation coalition appoints new chairman

UK's Sustainable Aviation coalition appointed Adam Morton as chairman (Passenger Terminal Today, 05-Mar-2020). Mr Morton is currently head of environmental technology at Rolls-Royce and will replace Manchester Airports Group corporate affairs director Neil Robinson in the position.