London City airport has revealed plans to become the first “net zero” airport in the UK capital by 2030.
The airport has published a new sustainability roadmap setting out the steps it will be taking over the rest of the decade to achieve this goal.
Measures include phasing out gas heating throughout its buildings and ensuring all airport vehicles become electric, alongside plans to become a zero waste and zero single-use plastics operation.
London City added that it also “aspires to be the most sustainably connected airport in the UK” with 80 per cent of ground journeys to and from the airport being made by sustainable types of transport by 2030.
In 2019, nearly three-quarters of travellers to the airport (73 per cent) used public and sustainable transport – the highest percentage of any UK airport.
CEO Robert Sinclair said: “As we continue to recover from the impact of the pandemic, it is imperative that we rebuild in the right way. We hope all of our partners and stakeholders will welcome our ambition, not just to decarbonise, but to play a meaningful role locally, right across the ESG agenda.
“Given our size, location and the nature of our route network and operation, we are ideally placed to help shape the next phase of aviation innovation in London, establishing it as a global leader of the net zero economy, supporting innovation, research and development and creating jobs for the amazing young people of this city.”
London City also hopes to be one of the first UK airports to facilitate a zero emissions flight and is working with the aviation industry and the UK government to achieve this aim.
The airport’s own consumer research found that passengers now consider sustainability to be one of the top issues in aviation and they also expect sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to be used for flights over the next few years.