25 airports in Africa now address their emissions within the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, with new entries announced at the ACI Africa/World Annual General Assembly in Marrakesh, Morocco.
MARRAKESH, MOROCCO – As the global community of airport operators and aviation stakeholders gathers in Marrakesh, Morocco for the 2022 ACI Africa/World Annual General Assembly, Airport Carbon Accreditation has announced new entries and upgrades to higher levels of accreditation achieved – with a particular focus on airports in Africa.
The conference host, the Moroccan Airports Authority (ONDA) has met all the requirements to accredit two more airports within its network: Rabat-Salé Airport and Fès Saïss Airport, both joining the collective airport climate action at Level 1 ‘Mapping’. In addition, the two busiest airports operated by ONDA, Marrakesh Menara Airport and Casablanca Mohammed V Airport, succeeded in upgrading to Level 2 ‘Reduction’ – the level at which airports are required to provide evidence of tangible CO2 reductions of emissions under their direct control.
In Tunisia, Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport operated by TAV Airports joined the programme directly at Level 2 ‘Reduction’, following in the footsteps of Enfidha Hammamet International Airport, the first airport to become accredited in the continent and also the very first to reach Level 3 ‘Optimisation’. At Level 3, airports are not only achieving scope 1 and 2 CO2 reduction but also activating their business partners and stakeholders operating at the airport site to get them involved in measuroing and reducing their own carbon emissions. La Réunion Roland Garros Airport is the only other airport in the African region to ever reach this level of carbon management maturity. There is currently one carbon neutral airport on the continent, Abidjan Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport in Côte d'Ivoire.
In total, 25 African airports1 in 13 countries are currently addressing their carbon emissions at one of the six levels available through the Airport Carbon Accreditation framework. They jointly cover more than 40% of African air passenger traffic (as per 2019 traffic levels).
Ali Tounsi, Secretary General of ACI Africa, said: “I am delighted to witness more and more African airports joining the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme and progressing to its higher levels. These achievements show that airports in the region are already contributing in very tangible ways to ICAO’s Long Term Aspirational Goal of net zero CO2 for international aviation by 2050 – as they are addressing and eliminating emissions under their own control, while also increasingly working with businesses operating at their premises to influence further CO2 reductions. Today we celebrate the achievements of the carbon accredited airports and encourage all African airports to join the momentum.”
Global results
Airport Carbon Accreditation has seen an unprecedented growth in new accreditations in the past two years, despite the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing crises. Globally, there are now 420 accredited airports, with the regional breakdown as follows: Africa (25), Asia-Pacific (65), Europe (214), Latin America & the Caribbean (57) and North America (59). Carbon accredited airports cover almost half of the world air passenger traffic, at 49.4% (as per pre-pandemic traffic levels).
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
