Act for climate
Our priority is to decarbonize our operations and, more broadly, the entire mobility chain in connection with the territories. This ambition guides every one of our projects, investments and innovations, whether in the contracting phase or in operation. Our airports are following an ambitious environmental transition trajectory by implementing a clear action plan, the results of which are recognized by international certifications.
Finally, we seek to involve the entire airport ecosystem in our approach.
To decarbonize the entire mobility chain, we act around three priorities: leading the way in reducing emissions through energy efficiency measures and the use of renewable energy; looking beyond our own activities and helping our stakeholders (carriers, travelers, and others) to reduce their carbon footprint; supporting regions in their energy transition.
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-66%of carbon reduction by 2030 compared to 2018 (scopes 1&2)
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0net zero emissions by 2050 globally and by 2030 in the European Union + London Gatwick and Edinburgh (scopes 1&2)
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+1GWpof solar capacity by 2030
Taking action on the field
Optimising our energy efficiency
We are committed to implement energy efficiency measures by optimizing temperature settings for heating and air conditioning, and by using state-of-the-art lighting technologies. Therefore, we install LED lamps for the lighting of all our airports.
At the beginning of the year 2021 for instance, Cambodia Airports completed large-scale relamping works. LED lights were installed to enlighten the 3,300-meter runway of Sihanouk International Airport. This helps reduce electricity consumption and therefore the carbon footprint of the airport significantly.
Accelerating on the production of renewable energies
We are developing our expertise in solar power solutions, which we operate both for our own infrastructures and for companies and local authorities.
Solar energy is central to VINCI Airports’ decarbonization plan, in line with VINCI Concessions’ ambitions, to develop a potential exceeding 1 GWp by 2030.
Within its airport network, VINCI Airports already has over 50 MWp of solar energy production capacity.
In 2023, VINCI Airports launched a large-scale solar power project at Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport, scheduled to be operational in 2025. This solar power plant will cover 14 hectares of parking lots with 5,800 parking spaces, making it one of the largest shaded power plants in France. With a capacity of 20 MWp, it will annually produce 24 GWh of green electricity, equivalent to the consumption of a city of 9,000 inhabitants. Its production will be injected into the grid to supply neighboring communities, avoiding the emission of nearly 1,600 tons of CO2 per year. The design, financing, and construction of the plant are entrusted to SunMind, the photovoltaic subsidiary of VINCI Concessions, which will operate the plant until 2047.
In Serbia, the solar power plant at Belgrade Airport has been delivered with 3,000 photovoltaic panels, providing the airport with 1,200 MWh of energy annually, avoiding the emission of 900 tons of carbon.
In Faro, Portugal, VINCI Airports inaugurated the country’s first airport solar power plant in September 2022. With a capacity of 3 MWp, it covers 30% of the airport’s electricity needs, reducing its CO2 emissions by over 1,500 tons per year. The plant is financed, developed, built and operated by SunMind.
Electrifying our fleets and facilitating the use of electric vehicles
By making facilities dedicated to electric mobility available to all, VINCI Airports is supporting the decarbonization of the sector. In early 2024, London Gatwick airport became the first international airport to open an Electric Forecourt®, a charging station dedicated to electric vehicles and open to all. This opening contributes to the ambition of achieving, by 2030, 60% of journeys to and from the airport producing no or very low emissions. In Japan, Osaka Itami Airport has announced the deployment of a program to install over 180 electric vehicle charging stations. With this large-scale installation, Osaka International airport will have the largest electric vehicle charging facilities of any airport in the country.
In Serbia, Belgrade Airport is the world’s first airport to offer off-grid solar chargers for electric vehicles, allowing passengers and visitors to recharge their vehicles using renewable energy sources.
Rolling out the biofuel supply at our airports
Derived from renewable organic matter, sustainable second-generation biofuels, or “SAF”, save 80% of greenhouse gas emissions compared with conventional fossil fuels used in air transport. Their use requires no major modification of aircraft engines or airport infrastructures, and they can already be used in blends with conventional kerosene. In the short term, they represent a decisive asset for the decarbonization of aviation. VINCI Airports is a pioneer in promoting this immediate-impact solution.
The integration of SAF enables us to meet the needs of any airline, depending on its level of decarbonization ambition. Finally, the introduction in France of carbon modulation of landing fees, a world first launched by VINCI Airports to encourage fleet renewal, also encourages the use of SAF. Under this incentive scheme, companies using SAFs will see their landing fees lightened, via an SAF discount system. Decarbonizing aviation is a partnership effort, in which all players play their part across the entire value chain.
After making it available in France at airports in Clermont-Ferrand and Toulon, VINCI Airports and TotalEnergies have partnered to provide sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at the Saint-Nazaire Montoir airport platform. Mixed with 30% conventional fuel, it will be used to refuel the Beluga aircraft used for the daily transportation of fuselage sections between its Saint-Nazaire production plant and the assembly lines in Toulouse.
Reducing residual carbon emissions
Achieving “zero net emissions” for the scope of our activities (scopes 1 & 2) requires, after having reduced emissions as much as possible, sequestering residual emissions from infrastructures. This is the objective of the forest carbon sinks in which VINCI Concessions invests, aiming to absorb these emissions through low-carbon label reforestation programs, particularly in France, located in the area of direct influence of the network’s concessions and which are also useful for biodiversity. In addition, VINCI Airports will offer airlines wishing to do so the possibility of using these labelled projects to meet all or part of their offsetting obligations for French domestic flights under a provision of the 2021 Climate and Resilience Act.
In France, Toulon Hyères and Lyon-Saint Exupéry airports are aiming to become the first French airports to achieve zero net CO2 emissions within their perimeter (scopes 1 & 2), respectively by 2023 and 2026. To sequester the residual emissions from these two airports, VINCI Airports has launched two local reforestation programs in Lyon with the Rhône département and the Office national des forêts, which have been awarded the Label bas-carbone. VINCI Airports has also recently signed a partnership with the Rhône Chamber of Agriculture to develop projects to reduce and sequester greenhouse gases, using its new large crops method. Ten volunteer farms in the eastern Lyon area will carry out diagnoses to identify the most effective levers for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting soil carbon storage.
Toulon Hyères Airport has initiated a reforestation project in the communal forest of Lavandou, alongside the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, the National Forest Office, the Mediterranean Portes des Maures Community of Communes, and the municipality of Lavandou. Lastly, in 2022, VINCI Airports signed a partnership with Néosylva to launch 150 hectares of reforestation over a 30-year period in the Brittany, Pays de la Loire, and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions. This initiative is expected to sequester 100 to 300 tons of CO2 per hectare.
Deploying hydrogen for aviation
Committed to supporting the development of the hydrogen industry, VINCI Airports is pursuing its action plan, with the forthcoming opening of its first hydrogen gas station at Lyon-Saint Exupéry, a hydrogen bus service at Kansai International Airport, a partnership with Air Liquide, Copec and Colbún at Santiago Airport, and a hydrogen-powered airport operating fleet project at Portugal’s airports.
VINCI Airports, Airbus, and Air Liquide are working together to deploy the use of hydrogen in airports and prepare the European airport network needed to accommodate future hydrogen-powered aircraft. The first concrete effects of this partnership materialized in 2022 and continued in 2023 at the pilot airport of Lyon-Saint Exupéry, VINCI Airports’ center of excellence for innovation, with the study of a hydrogen ecosystem.
In parallel, Aéroports de Lyon is developing a project for the production and distribution of hydrogen gas on the airside and landside to supply ground vehicles, including logistics and airport equipment, and heavy-duty vehicles.
The partnership between VINCI Airports, Airbus, and Air Liquide has enabled the study of hydrogen infrastructure required for refueling future aircraft tanks. Ultimately, the goal for Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport is to have a complete hydrogen infrastructure, from production to distribution, including storage.
Towards "net-zero direct emissions"
After London Gatwick and all airports in Portugal were certified ACA 4+, four airports in the network, Toulon Hyères Airport in France and Beja, Madeira, and Ponta Delgada airports in Portugal, received level 5 certification from the ACA program in 2023. They are among the first ten airports worldwide to achieve this new level, certifying that the airports have achieved net-zero CO2 emissions in their operations. ACA level 5 is the first certification to provide a clear framework to help airports significantly reduce their direct CO2 emissions and maintain a zero carbon footprint on their own emissions, while also accompanying their partners in reducing their carbon emissions.
Did you know that VINCI Airports is the first international contributor to the ACI’s ACA program with more than 60 accredited airports, including 4 at the maximum level, ACA 5, in Portugal and France ?
