Adapting aviation to a changing climate

As stakeholders from throughout the air transport sector gather at this year’s 9th ACI Airport Exchange conference & exhibition taking place today and tomorrow, EUROCONTROL and ACI EUROPE today made the first of 2 key announcements – about airports and climate resilience.

The air transport sector regularly deals with disruptive weather but these disruptions are likely to become more extreme and more frequent as we experience the growing impact of climate change.

The implications for air transport were assessed in a special report issued by EUROCONTROL last year Challenges of Growth: Climate Change Risk & Resilience*. The report details the potential impacts of temperature increase, sea-level rise and other changes in climate on the European air transport network. European airports need to consider to what extent they may be vulnerable to this risk. 

EUROCONTROL and ACI EUROPE in cooperation with Aena, AVINOR, DGAC/STAC, Heathrow Airport, NATS and Manchester Metropolitan University have produced a collaborative factsheet, in consultation with IATA, “Adapting Aviation to a Changing Climate”. The collaborative factsheet explains some of the climate change risks for aviation and their potential impact on the provision of aviation services for aircraft operators, airport operators, ANSPs, passengers and staff. It also provides a checklist of questions and case studies to help organisations initiate their climate risk assessments.

“EUROCONTROL as Network Manager is committed to fully support European aviation to reduce the emissions that lead to climate change,” said Frank Brenner, Director General of EUROCONTROL. “However, climate change will have a range of impacts on European aviation in the coming years and this report aims to help identify these impacts so that they can be adequately addressed.”

Olivier Jankovec, Director General ACI EUROPE commented “We have been monitoring both sides of the Climate Change equation for many years – reducing the airport industry’s contribution through our programme Airport Carbon Accreditation° and today, providing our members with a toolkit to help airports assess, plan and prepare for the potential effects of climate change on their operations. Quite aside from the safety aspect, airport capacity is an increasingly scarce resource here in Europe and needs to be maintained and protected accordingly. Fundamentally, this is about safeguarding connectivity and the economic prosperity that depends on it.”

The questions in the toolkit work as a checklist for air transport stakeholders to begin to assess whether climate change impacts are a risk to them. The case studies in the toolkit provide examples of how some organisations are already adapting to the potential impacts of climate change, describing the measures they are taking. A list of aviation climate adaptation resources is also provided.

 *ACI AIRPORT EXCHANGE, presented jointly by ACI EUROPE and ACI ASIA-PACIFIC is the biggest     annual airport industry event, grouping 5 simultaneous conferences, addressing the many facets and challenges of the airport business. This year’s event is hosted by Aéroports de Paris and has attracted over 1,200 delegates and visitors and over 6 exhibitors. To find out more, visit www.airport-exchange.com or follow #apex2014 on Twitter.

** The report is available to download here:
https://www.eurocontrol.int/sites/default/files/article/content/documents/official-documents/reports/201303-challenges-of-growth-2013-task-8.pdf      

° visit www.airportcarbonaccredited.org for more on the independent, institutionally endorsed carbon management certification programme