Reduction in CO2 emissions in the last 6 years.
We have achieved this by:
LED lighting on our runway
This major project, which took three years, was completed in 2019. Whilst our passengers numbers have increased, at the same time this project has enabled a significant reduction in carbon emissions, decoupling airport growth from increased carbon emissions.
100% of our electricity supply is from renewable sources.
We’re accredited under the Airport Carbon Accreditation Scheme (ACAS), a voluntary global management standard specifically for airports.
There are six levels to ACAS and we are aiming to achieve the highest level possible. We achieved Level 1 in 2020 and in early 2022, we achieved Level 2, demonstrating a year on year reduction in our carbon footprint.
The highest level of accreditation requires us to align our carbon management ambition with global climate goals and transform our operations with absolute emissions reductions. This includes both the emissions we control, such as our energy use and those we can influence, for example third party ground operations and flights.
We are currently working towards Level 3, which we hope to achieve by the end of 2023.
We partnered with the University of Warwick, to research the future of zero-emission airport operations.
This pioneering programme of research saw the creation of a model for airport energy, simulating and understanding the infrastructure impacts of electric and hydrogen aircraft, as well as support vehicles, on UK airport operations.
This research is part of a wider Zero Emissions Flight Infrastructure project, which will identify the opportunities and challenges associated with adopting zero emission aircraft within UK aviation.
The funding for the project was awarded by the Department for Transport’s Transport Research and Innovation Grant programme – TRIG: Zero Emission Flight, which was delivered by Connected Places Catapult.
We’re accredited under the Airport Carbon Accreditation Scheme (ACAS), a voluntary global management standard specifically for airports.
There are six levels to ACAS and we are aiming to achieve the highest level possible. We achieved Level 1 in 2020 and in early 2022, we achieved Level 2, demonstrating a year on year reduction in our carbon footprint.
The highest level of accreditation requires us to align our carbon management ambition with global climate goals and transform our operations with absolute emissions reductions. This includes both the emissions we control, such as our energy use and those we can influence, for example third party ground operations and flights.
We are currently working towards Level 3, which we hope to achieve by the end of 2023.
We partnered with the University of Warwick, to research the future of zero-emission airport operations.
This pioneering programme of research saw the creation of a model for airport energy, simulating and understanding the infrastructure impacts of electric and hydrogen aircraft, as well as support vehicles, on UK airport operations.
This research is part of a wider Zero Emissions Flight Infrastructure project, which will identify the opportunities and challenges associated with adopting zero emission aircraft within UK aviation.
The funding for the project was awarded by the Department for Transport’s Transport Research and Innovation Grant programme – TRIG: Zero Emission Flight, which was delivered by Connected Places Catapult.
We’re undergoing a major terminal extension and refurbishment that presents significant opportunity to decarbonise LBA.
Emissions we own and control are known as
Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. This
includes all the carbon emissions for which we are directly responsible and in
full control of. For example, our own
energy use, heating, cooling and company vehicles. It is for this reason, that our carbon
roadmap focusses on our own emissions as a priority, since we are in full
control of this. However, we can’t
ignore the emissions produced by our on-site business partners (Scope 3
emissions), including the airlines.
Therefore, we are committed to putting measures in place to encourage
and make it easier for our partners to decarbonise their own operations.
We are proposing to redevelop a plot of land on the airport site into a dedicated EV charging hub for use by our passengers, staff and on-site partners.
We’re working with Leeds and Bradford City Councils to increase the range of travel options available to our customers and staff:
Free pick-up and drop-off on the terminal front for EV drivers. In addition, an electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme has been set up to assist and incentivise our employees in purchasing a brand-new electric vehicle.
We are working with our airport transport partner, Transdev, to upgrade the existing Flyer bus network to a fully electric powered fleet. The Flyer buses connect Leeds, Bradford and Harrogate to the airport. In order to encourage our employees to take the bus to work, a 50% discount is available for staff on all the Flyer buses.
Supporting Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority in building LBA Parkway – a new railway station, less than a mile away that will link the airport via a shuttle bus, improving public transport links to the airport.
A Cycle to Work Scheme has been available to our employees since 2010, as part of our sustainable travel plan. The government changed their guidance on cycle to work schemes in 2019, removing the £1,000 cap on the purchase bikes and equipment. This allowed us to change our policy to allow bike purchases up to the value of £3,500, which enables our employees to purchase electric bikes, thus making the scheme more relevant and accessible as ever.
We’re introducing fixed electrical ground power (FEGP) on all aircraft contact stands in order to phase out the diesel-powered mobile ground power units (GPU’s), which are used to provide the aircraft with power whilst on the ground and when their engines are switched off. FEGP allows the aircraft to obtain power directly from the local grid. In addition to providing carbon savings, this will also improve the local air quality.
In order to encourage our on-site business partners to switch to sustainable ground fleets, we will be providing EV charging infrastructure throughout the airport site.
We intend to create a carbon offset scheme through our website, to give passengers the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions from their flight. The carbon offsets purchased will be used towards the most credible and verifiable projects elsewhere, that are reducing, removing or capturing CO2 emissions from the atmosphere, thus compensating for individual emissions produced from taking a flight. Projects include energy efficiency, renewable energy and reforestation.
LBA’s flight emissions will significantly reduce as aircraft decarbonise in the long term. We’re assisting this by:
Offering financial incentives for new aircraft operations through favourable landing fees.
Supporting airlines with their own sustainability plans.
Jet2 launched their ‘Jet2 net zero’ strategy in September 2021, which sets out their decarbonisation plans to be net zero by 2050. The plan can be downloaded here: https://www.jet2plc.com/en/the-environment
Ryanair already operate one of the youngest fleets of aircraft in the skies and has offered its passengers a voluntary carbon offset scheme since 2018. Ryanair have committed to help the aviation industry deliver a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions over 2005 levels, by 2050. Ryanair’s environmental commitments can be downloaded here: https://corporate.ryanair.com/environment/
KLM launched their ‘Fly Responsibly’ campaign in 2019 to encourage travellers and the aviation industry to consider the environmental impact of flying. In January 2021, KLM were also the first airline in the world to carry out a commercial passenger flight using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Further details on how KLM are taking a leading role in the future sustainability of aviation can be found here: https://www.klm.nl/en/information/sustainability
Participating in Research & Development case studies to ensure we are prepared for the introduction of zero emission aircraft.
