North American Airports Mark 5 Years of Leadership on Sustainability

September 16, 2019

TAMPA, FL – Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA) today recognized the five-year anniversary of North American airports participating in the Airport Carbon Accreditation program. The Airport Carbon Accreditation program recognizes airport efforts to manage and reduce their CO2 emissions through independent assessment and verification. Notably, San Diego International Airport was recently accredited as North America’s second-ever carbon neutral airport. ACI-NA recognized the 47 North American airports that achieved Airport Carbon Accreditation throughout the past year at the 2019 ACI-NA Annual Conference and Exhibition.

“This year marks an important milestone in our efforts to promote sustainability and strengthen our commitment to the environment,” said ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke. “We are proud of the 47 airports who are actively lowering their carbon footprint through the Airport Carbon Accreditation program, and congratulate San Diego International Airport on achieving carbon neutral status. ACI-NA applauds these airports for their leadership on sustainability and commitment to remaining good environmental partners in their communities.”

As part of Airport Carbon Accreditation, airports commit to reducing their emissions by making investments in heating and lighting efficiency technology, electric, hybrid or gas-powered vehicles, public transport incentive schemes, less corporate travel, and stakeholder engagement to encourage further emissions reductions. Since ACI-NA joined the Airport Carbon Accreditation program in 2014, 47 airports have attained accreditation.

For 2019, 25 airports have renewed their Airport Carbon Accreditation. Renewal requires the airport to take additional steps toward carbon reduction. Airports renewing their accreditation include Plant City Airport, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Charlottetown Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Edmonton International Airport, Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Honolulu International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, New York Stewart International Airport, Peter O. Knight Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Portland–Troutdale Airport, Portland International Airport, Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Salt Lake City International Airport, Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, Tampa International Airport, Vancouver International Airport, Victoria International Airport, and Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport.

Eleven airports have upgraded to the next level of accreditation since 2018, including Dallas Love Field Airport, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport, Hillsboro Airport, Indianapolis International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Ottawa/Macdonald–Cartier International Airport, San Diego International Airport, Tampa Executive Airport, Teterboro Airport, and Van Nuys Airport.

Seven new airports have joined the Airport Carbon Accreditation program since 2018, including Eagle Creek Airpark, Fredericton International Airport, Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport, Indianapolis Regional Airport, Kelowna International Airport, Saint John Airport, and Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport. Joining the program involves a rigorous process that requires third-party validation.

In addition to San Diego International Airport, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport has also achieved carbon neutral certification, and was the first to achieve a three-year certification as a carbon neutral airport.

Learn more about Airport Carbon Accreditation at http://airportco2.org/.

 

About ACI-NA

Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) represents local, regional, and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the United States and Canada. ACI-NA member airports enplane more than 95 percent of the domestic and virtually all the international airline passenger and cargo traffic in North America. Approximately 380 aviation-related businesses are also members of ACI-NA, providing goods and services to airports. Collectively, U.S. airports support more than 11.5 million jobs and account for $1.4 trillion in economic activity – or more than seven percent of the total U.S. GDP. Canadian airports support 405,000 jobs and contribute C$35 billion to Canada’s GDP. Learn more at www.airportscouncil.org.