Queenstown Airport (ZQN) has converted its A$100m bank lending facilities to sustainability-linked loans, linking its debt to the achievement of specific sustainability targets.
Chief financial officer Andrew Williamson said: “We have set some clear targets in our sustainability strategy. The decarbonisation of on-the-ground operations and the terminal is an immediate priority, and we have made some good progress to date. We’ve worked with our banking partners to set ambitious targets to hold us to account as we continue to implement our sustainability strategy and decarbonisation roadmap.”
Four areas have been targeted under the loan terms:
- Achieving Level 4 Airport Carbon Accreditation
- Reducing Queenstown Airport’s Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, supporting the facility’s net-zero commitment
- Installing infrastructure that supports reductions in the airport’s Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, including enabling electrification of parked aircraft, ground service equipment and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles
- Reducing the waste sent to landfill across the terminal precinct.
The characteristics of the loan align the interest rate with Queenstown Airport’s performance.
“We’re keenly focused on embedding sustainability across the company. Aligning our funding programme with our sustainability ambitions adds another incentive for us to achieve the commitments we’ve made,” said general manager sustainability and corporate affairs Sara Irvine.
“Collaborating with the businesses operating here at ZQN, and our airline partners, is an important part of our overall strategy,” she added. “These targets are designed to address some of the sustainability challenges airports are facing and enable us to support the sector’s transition to a low-emissions future.”
Sustainability-linked loans have been executed with the airport company’s four banking partners: Westpac NZ, BNZ, ASB and Bank of China. BNZ and Westpac NZ acted as joint sustainability coordinators on the transaction.The sustainability targets were externally reviewed by independent global environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings firm Sustainalytics and align with the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association’s Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles (as of February 2023).
Queenstown Airport will ensure accountability by reporting independently verified target achievements to its lenders each year.
Image: Queenstown Airport
