London Luton Airport (LLA) has become only the third major UK airport to achieve Level 4 of the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) scheme.
The ACA scheme is a globally recognised carbon management programme, overseen by Airports Council International (ACI), that independently assesses and recognises efforts to manage and reduce airport carbon emissions.
As a Level 4 accredited airport, LLA has demonstrated that it is ‘transforming its operations to achieve carbon reductions in line with global climate goals’. This achievement also highlights LLA’s commitment to working with key airport partners to reduce their emissions at the airport too.
The Level 4 accreditation is a significant milestone in LLA’s sustainability journey, underlining the progress of its Net Zero roadmap and the drive to achieve significant carbon reductions across all aspects of the airport including partner operations.
Key initiatives include collaboration with airlines to increase the number of quieter, more fuel-efficient next-gen aircraft operating from the airport; finalising plans for the installation of a 10Mwp solar plant at the airport; and transitioning to alternative sustainable fuels, as well as continued investment in electric vehicles.
This year also saw the launch of the fully automated, electrically powered Luton DART rail link, which connects the terminal and the mainline railway at Luton Airport Parkway station. Encouraging passengers to travel to LLA by rail, rather than car, will reduce the environmental impact of journeys to and from the airport, saving around 80% on carbon emissions (6.8kg of CO2e per passenger journey from central London). The DART has carried over one million passengers within the first six months of operation.
“London Luton Airport is committed to sustainable aviation and achieving the highest level of the ACA programme is a significant milestone, demonstrating our commitment to minimising the environmental impacts of the airport,” said chief executive Alberto Martin.
“LLA has taken important steps to set an ambition to be Net Zero in its carbon emissions by 2040. However, we recognise there is still a great deal of work to be done, continuing to demonstrate our focus on delivering on our sustainability commitments for our passengers, industry and local community,” he added.
