During the 29th General Assembly of Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe) in Limassol in June 2019, more than 200 member airports from 42 countries, including the Athens International Airport, in an effort to combat climate change, now referred to as climate crisis in terms of CO2 emissions from their operations, have signed a pledge for zero carbon emissions. The Athens International Airport aiming to eliminate its carbon footprint well ahead of the 2050 goal, presented on the 4th of December 2019 the “ROUTE 2025” plan: the Athens International Airport’s commitment to more immediate action. The pledge was signed during the 7th annual “ACES – Athens” Airport Chief Executives’ Symposium held at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, in the presence of more than 200 esteemed representatives from the air transport industry and the fields of finance and tourism. In the joint agreement signed by Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE and Yiannis Paraschis, CEO of the Athens International Airport, the Athens International Airport committed to submit by 2025:
• An extensive plan for clean energy production within the airport with solar energy for the same power consumption, covering AIA’s electricity needs by 100% and corresponding to 91.1% of the company’s current carbon footprint by the 2nd quarter of 2020.
• A detailed action plan to eliminate the remaining 8.9% of the carbon footprint (through initiatives such as the use of electric vehicles, biofuels, heat pumps, etc.) by the end of 2020.
With this highly significant and innovative global initiative, the Athens International Airport, having already achieved carbon neutral status (level 3+) certified by the Airport Carbon Accreditation and by reducing its carbon emissions by more than 40% from 2005 to today despite the near doubling of passenger traffic, aims to become the first airport operator in Europe to cover 100% of its electricity needs within the airport through renewable sources.
