1. February - April 2015 21
AFRAA
AFRIC
AN
AIRLINES ASSOCI
ATION
ASSOCIATIO
N
DES COMPAGNIES AERIENNES
AFRICAINES
Environment: Sustainable
Development of Airports in Africa
Satisfying current transport and mobility needs
without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet these needs1 is the major challenge that all air
transport stakeholders have to achieve in the coming
years. This target can only be achieved with the commitment of all air
transport actors to getting a good balance between economics, social,
environment and ecology.
The aviation sector generates at global level 700 million tons of
carbon dioxide per year among which 30 million are generated by
airports. Most of the airports in the world are actively working to curb
greenhouse gas emissions and to reach carbon neutrality. However,
not all airports measure or report their achievements in reducing their
greenhouse gas emissions. This situation is not restricted to airports
but it is common to all sectors and it was highlighted at the climate
talks in Lima, Peru, in December 2014.
Following the global airport industry’s commitment to reduce its carbon
emissions made in 2007 in a special resolution passed at the ACI
World Annual Congress & Assembly, ACI EUROPE launched Airport
Carbon Accreditation in 2009. Airport Carbon Accreditation is the first
institutionally endorsed initiative that independently assesses and
recognises airports’ efforts to manage and reduce their CO2 emissions
and it has already won praise from the International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO), the United Nation Environment Panel (UNEP)
and the European Union (EU). It certifies airports at 4 different levels of
accreditation: Mapping, Reduction, Optimisation and Neutrality.
Airport Carbon Accreditation went global in November 2014 with its
extension to airports in Latin America and the Caribbean, becoming the
global standard for carbon management at airports.
Currently, 115 airports are certified in 6 continents, accounting for more
than 26% of global air passenger traffic annually.
In June 2013, the programme was extended to Africa, in partnership
with ACI Africa with the accreditation of the first African airport to the
programme: Enfidha-Hammamet International Airport. The airport was
initially certified at Level 1 Mapping and it upgraded its accreditation to
Level 2 Reduction in September 2014.
TAV Tunisie, the operator of Enfidha Hammamet International Airport,
was able to put into practice the rhetoric of sustainable development
by becoming more energy efficient and by incorporating renewable
energy. During the design phase a green architectural plan was
developed and photovoltaic energy has been widely used. To cope
with the increasing cost of electricity during the airport operation,
TAV Tunisie designed and constructed a trigeneration power plant
that enables the simultaneous production of electricity, heating and
cooling from natural gas.
The energy policy of TAV Tunisie allowed for reductions in CO2
emissions by up to 48% in four years of operation and it kept its
energy bill constant while the energy unit prices increased by 60%
from 2010 to 2014, without considering the excess electricity sold to
the National provider of Electricity.
With the increasing trend towards airport privatisation in Africa,
airports are becoming more commercially focused. The experience
of TAV Tunisie in reducing its CO2 emissions proves that sustainable
development of airports in Africa doesn’t conflict with profitability and
it can be a source of expenditure cost reduction.
By Mr. Fourat Binous, Deputy PDG (Technical) - TAV Tunisie
1
Black W R. 1996. Sustainable transport:
a US perspective. Journal of Transport Geography 4:151‐159