SMEs shine Project probes flight turnaround emission cuts

Airline joins university in study to reduce environmental impact

Collaboration between Luton-based travel giant TUI, Cranfield University and airports operator Regional & City Airports is investigating how to reduce the environmental impact of aircraft turnarounds at airports.

The study will focus on how to decarbonise ground operations and reduce environmental impact by analysing TUI aircraft turnarounds at RCA-owned Exeter Airport.

Experts from Cranfield University’s Centre for Air Transport Management, which has a long-standing focus on aviation and the environment, are using TUI data, airport vehicle usage data and other information sources to create an ‘emissions inventory’ of ground operations.

By examining the different elements of the turnaround in detail, the study will address a gap in current research and identify where tangible emissions savings can be made in the short term and where there may need to be bigger changes in the future, including new technology.

With an estimated 85 million global air traffic movements in 2022, the project’s findings could have important ramifications for the global aviation industry.

Professor Anna Smallwood, head of the Centre for Air Transport Management at Cranfield, said: “Addressing the future challenges faced by the aviation industry will require high degrees of collaboration to develop integrated solutions.

“This is an excellent example of industry and academia working together to understand the real issues and find opportunities to move forward in a viable and sustainable way.”

TUI Airline’s chief operating officer Dawn Wilson added: “This important collaboration is another step in our net zero journey and commitment to reducing the environmental footprint of travel. TUI Airline is already among the most carbon-efficient in the world having continuously invested in new aircraft and our goal is to drive further emissions out of the system.”

The SME Bedfordshire Business Awards are coming to town again for the seventh year running. But this year, there are some important changes that will put us in full control of the content and organisation of the awards and enable us to more closely support local businesses who wish to enter.

Exeter Airport will act as a live laboratory for Cranfield’s experts to look at aircraft turnarounds in forensic detail, tracking every aspect of the ground handling process to measure emissions impacts.

The next step will examine potential emission reduction measures such as the use of electric and alternatively fuelled airside assets and other operational measures. The study is expected to report back next year.

Regional & City Airports chief executive Andrew Bell said: “This project is the latest in our ongoing collaboration with Cranfield University to help drive innovation across our industry, and is a vital part of RCA’s commitment to make our own airport operations net zero by 2040. We are excited to be involved and look forward to seeing how the findings could be put into practice across our airport estate.”

Dr Thomas Budd, senior lecturer and DARTeC Fellow in Airport Planning and Management at Cranfield, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for us examine a key part of the aviation ecosystem. Understanding more about the emissions created will give us a clear view on what mitigating measures will make the most significant impact and we can then use this as a stepping stone to further decarbonisation of airport operations.”

For while we have sponsored the awards many times in the past, this time, we are now actually the organisers; the event and the awards are now ours. So this high-profile celebration of successful businesses in the local area now has a stronger connection to us here at Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce than ever before.

And we will be making sure this delivers every possible opportunity for you to benefit from the spotlight that this well-established and respected calendar fixture focuses on the great businesses that shine in our county.

All over the UK, small and medium enterprises punch way beyond their weight. The well over 5.5 million SMEs in the UK make up an incredible 99.9 per cent of private sector businesses nationally.

Little wonder, then, that SMEs are often also said to be responsible for driving innovation and competition in many economic sectors - and the SME Business Awards publicly recognise and reward these achievements in the heart of the communities those businesses call home.

The awards are well known for their extensive category coverage, which is highly inclusive, meaning there is potentially something for everyone. A business can enter up to three categories.

From the geographiccategories include Business of the Year for Bedford, Luton, and Central Bedfordshire - to categories of age and size, to more specific awards such as growth, innovation, sustainability, individuals, apprenticeships and not-forprofit, the emphasis is on enabling your business and its people to tell a knockout story to the world, no matter how general or particular the achievements in question.

Naturally, the awards - and their winners - generate a hefty amount of local press coverage, which ultimately widens the audience your business can reach and this is in addition to pre-arranged coverage through our own media partners.

But we will also be working to ensure both pre- and postevent publicity is maximised through our other marketing channels. This will include social media, website content, email campaigns, editorial in local business publications and features in the Chamber’s own Focus magazine that all our members receive.

And though it is often said that ‘the winner takes it all’, the awards feature both Gold and Silver winners so your chances of winning one way or the other are maximised.

The benefits do not stop at the county boundary, either. The awards are part of a national range of events and if you are a winner in certain categories, you will automatically make it through to the SME National Business Awards Final where you will be in the company of some of the best businesses in the UK.

In addition, there are sponsorship opportunities available that give you a great opportunity to raise your business’s profile, whether you win or not.

Of course, no awards are complete without a memorable awards ceremony, a little bit of glitz and glamour and a chance to let your hair down while doing some relaxed networking at the same time.

On these fronts the awards deliver. ‘Black tie’ and ‘Dress to impress’ are the watchwords but as for date, time, and location, we are just going to have to tease you for a while longer. Keep checking www.chamber-business.com for updates.

What does a winner look like?

If you are thinking your business is not the kind that could win an award, think again... Winners in the past have come from SMEs and individuals across all sectors.

As the saying goes, you have to be in it to win it and no Bedfordshire SME is excluded from entering, or indeed winning, these awards.