AdR’s green initiatives are numerous and span several fronts. Among them are the continuous monitoring of energy consumption, the implementation of sustainable practices in the construction and management of airport infrastructure, the ISO 14001 certification it has obtained and level 4+ of the Airport Carbon Accreditation.
A truly remarkable array of excellence in managing environmental impact for an infrastructure that is notoriously “heavy”, such as a large, high-traffic airport.
And Fiumicino is undoubtedly on its way to winning a leading place among the green airports of Europe and the world.
But which are the greenest airports in Europe?
It is difficult to rank the most “sustainable” airports on our continent. We can say, however, that the two Milan airports, Malpensa and Linate, rank among the top in Europe for CO2 emissions reduction, with significant Carbon Neutrality recognition.
The two airports have also long been engaged in projects for the use of renewable energy and for reducing noise pollution.
The most important are: the S4EeB Project, which aims to reduce energy consumption through acoustic monitoring, optimising energy use according to the number of occupants in the various airport areas, and the Cascade Project, on smart energy management, identifying weak points in the network in real time to optimise energy consumption, with potential savings of up to 20%.
Bologna airport
The Bologna airport has recently obtained Airport Carbon Accreditation 4+ Transition certification, thanks to its significant commitment to offsetting CO2 emissions.
Rotterdam The Hague airport
The Dutch airport is developing a major infrastructure plan for hydrogen and sustainable fuels in collaboration with the Port of Rotterdam Authority.
The DutcH₂ Aviation Hub aims to make aviation more sustainable through electrification and the use of hydrogen.
The Netherlands is not the only place experimenting with hydrogen as aircraft fuel. The ALRIGH2T Project, coordinated by ENEA and funded by the European Commission, dedicated precisely to the use of liquid hydrogen for the decarbonisation of the airport sector, will soon be tested at Milan Malpensa and Paris airports.
Amsterdam Schiphol
Also in the Netherlands, the large Schiphol airport has long been committed to reducing emissions. They have been cut by 90%, thanks to the use of electric power units.
But which is the greenest airport in the world?
The airport currently considered the greenest in the world is Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), in Malaysia.
It was the first in the world to obtain Green Globe 21 certification, in 2004, and has implemented energy-saving policies, reducing paper consumption through the use of electronic tickets. It was also designed to blend in with nature, being surrounded by a tropical forest that offers passengers a lush environment.
There is, however, a hub that is challenging Kuala Lumpur for the title. It is Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar, which has considerably stepped up its ecological initiatives in recent years: from waste management to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Every year, Doha airport recycles and reuses about 4,000 tonnes of organic compost and uses treated water to sustain the airport’s own vegetation.
Which is the largest airport in the world?
Currently, the largest airport in the world by passenger capacity is Istanbul Airport (IST), inaugurated in 2018 and fully operational since 2019. It has an annual capacity of 150 million passengers, with the possibility of expanding to 200 million in the future.
However, a new airport is under development, Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, which once completed will have an expected capacity of 260 million passengers a year and will have 400 gates and five parallel runways. This airport is part of a larger project that includes the construction of a new city around it.
In terms of passenger traffic, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in the United States retains the title of busiest airport in the world, with about 93.7 million passengers in 2023.
