Airport plans to charge less for quieter planes

Airport operator daa has announced plans for new sustainability measures to incentivise airlines to operate lower Co₂ emission planes at Dublin Airport.

Under the new proposed incentive scheme, a low emissions discount will apply to Dublin Airport’s charges and daa will charge airlines who fly high emission aircraft more.

The daa plans to introduce the new discounts to incentivise the operation of newer, quieter and cleaner aircraft at Dublin Airport. Consultation with airlines on the next phase of daa’s environmental charging strategy will start soon.

Daa said that airlines will get a new 25% discount off all runway charges if they operate the most environmentally friendly aircraft at all times of the day.

The expected multi million euro discounts will further incentivise sustainable airport operations at Dublin Airport and are expected to go live within the next six months, it added. phases 1 and 2 of the noise reduction scheme focus on penalising aircraft noise at night via surcharges. it said that airlines at Dublin Airport are set to achieve discounts on published charges of more than €30m this year.

Daa introduced the first phase of its environmental charging strategy last year and already applies higher charges for noisier aircraft which operate at night.

Airlines with aircraft based at Dublin Airport, including ryanair and Aer Lingus, are set to reap the largest share of these incentives, it added.

The company reduced its carbon emissions by 24% at Dublin Airport and 38% at Cork Airport last year compared to 2018 levels.

This was achieved by implementing “a robust energy management process”, continued LED upgrade works, a fleet replacement programme, and participation in the SEAi and opW reduce Your Use Campaign.

Daa has also exceeded its recycling target by achieving a 46% recycling rate at Dublin Airport.

Kenny Jacobs, daa of CEo, the company wants to embed environmental sustainability into everything it does.

“We are acutely aware of the scale of the task of achieving the Government’s target of a 51% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions at our airports by 2030, on our way to our ultimate goal of achieving netzero emissions by 2050,” Mr Jacobs said.

“We are fully committed to delivering on these targets while in parallel, working alongside aviation stakeholders and our airline partners to support the sector’s transition to a more sustainable model for the future and addressing our Scope 3 emissions,” he added.