Queenstown Airport has been awarded Level 4+ Airport Carbon Accreditation from the Airports Council International, recognising its significant progress in reducing carbon emissions.
The accreditation is the second-highest tier in the programme, which independently assesses airports’ efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Only 46 out of more than 40,000 airports worldwide have achieved Level 4+ or 5 accreditation.
Queenstown Airport Chief Executive Glen Sowry expressed pride in the achievement.
“Aviation is a challenging industry to decarbonise. We’ve set ambitious sustainability targets and invested heavily to reduce our carbon footprint as quickly as possible,” Mr Sowry said.
Since its initial carbon audit in 2019, the airport has reduced its operational absolute emissions by 71 per cent and is targeting an 85 per cent reduction in absolute emissions by 2028.
Stefano Baronci, Director General of ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East, congratulated Queenstown Airport for setting a benchmark for airports across the region.
“By positioning itself as one of the leaders in efficient carbon management, Queenstown Airport demonstrates a strong commitment to building a more sustainable future,” Mr Baronci said.
To achieve Level 4+ ‘Transition’ accreditation, Queenstown Airport had to submit extensive documentation of its carbon management plan, work with stakeholders to measure and reduce emissions, and commit to absolute emissions reduction in line with the Paris Agreement.
The airport also had to fully offset its residual carbon emissions using internationally recognised offsets.
General Manager Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Sara Irvine said Queenstown Airport had transferred to Airport Carbon Accreditation this year because it is an industry-specific programme that allows benchmarking against other airports globally.
“The ACA accreditation is robustly verified and, in accordance with the programme standards, we are now tracking emissions from a wider range of activities beyond our direct control, including aircraft emissions,” Ms Irvine said.
Queenstown Airport’s next target is to achieve Level 5 accreditation.
The airport plans to release its 2024 Sustainability Report in November.
