New developments announced at Budapest Airport!
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Sustainability criteria are now a standard requirement for all airport developments. Budapest Airport is also currently working hard on important new developments, including the temporary reopening of Terminal 1 and the new Terminal 3, to serve the expected future growth in passenger numbers and to provide even better service quality for its passengers.
In addition to these major developments, several new investments were completed in 2021: the airport’s new Main Gate (where roof-mounted solar panels provide part of the building’s electricity needs), the turbo roundabout in front of Terminal 2, the new airport bicycle path and Pier 1, all of which, together with several smaller improvements, were built with sustainability in mind, taking into account environmental considerations in terms of materials, energy use and traffic optimization.
In line with its sustainability goals of zero carbon emissions, energy efficiency and transport developments, Budapest Airport also joined the STARGATE consortium in 2021, as part of which it undertook, amongst other things, to develop and put in place a cloud-based, paper-free air cargo handling system. The project, led by Brussels Airport, has secured nearly 25 million euros of support from the European Commission, within the framework of the Green Deal program.
The airport operator implemented a number of developments in 2021 with sustainability objectives in mind, all of which support the reduction of the airport’s carbon footprint.
Amongst other projects, the heating center of the airport was modernized; by applying heat insulation to more than 2500 fittings providing heating for office, warehouse and hangar buildings, the airport saves 170 000 cubic meters of natural gas and 340 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, also significantly reducing environmental burdens.
Budapest Airport also supports the reduction of environmental impacts by developing e-mobility and encouraging the use of electric vehicles, both inside and outside the airport fence. 76 ground handling vehicles, as well as 10 fleet and manager cars were recently replaced with electric or hybrid models upon the operator’s initiative, saving 140 000 liters of fuel and 350 tons of carbon dioxide a year in total. Budapest Airport has installed 42 electric vehicle chargers so far, and, in addition to improving public transport,
it has constructed a bicycle road to the terminal.
In December 2021, the government included Budapest Airport in the list of projects to be financed by the Connecting Europe Facility for a major development of its electric charging infrastructure, whereby it will install an additional 165 e-charging stations for ground handlers, airport staff and business vehicles, from a budget of 1.3 billion HUF.
The airport operator purchased 840 MWh of green energy in 2021, which is equivalent to the monthly electricity consumption of 3500 households of four people. The airport also recently procured additional, larger amounts of green electricity, by which it will ensure that 65% of its 2022 power demand is supplied from renewable sources, while
from 2023 onwards, all electricity consumed on the territory of Budapest Airport will be from renewable sources.
Net zero emissions by 2035
As the airport operator is committed to sustainable growth and environmental protection, in 2019 it officially joined ACI’s “NetZero by 2050” initiative, a commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions from its operations by 2050 at the latest. However, Budapest Airport announced last October that with the help of its net emissions reductions scheme, it is working hard to reduce its net emissions to zero up to 15 years ahead of the current deadline of 2050, by 2035.
The airport operator has taken significant and real steps to reduce its carbon footprint over the past year, with direct carbon emissions from the airport now only half of what they were ten years ago.
With this commitment, Budapest Airport aims to become the first airport in the region to achieve net zero carbon emissions, setting an example for other European airport operators.
However, Budapest Airport is able to most effectively reduce the environmental impact of the airport when it works in cooperation with its airport partners. It therefore launched its Greenairport program in 2015. The aim of the 40 partners participating in the initiative is for the airport and the organizations operating there to work together and help each other reduce their carbon footprint and the general impact of their operations on the environment. The main aim of the program is to reduce the airport’s carbon footprint, by reducing energy use, creating opportunities for renewable energy, developing electric mobility, reducing water consumption, phasing out single-use plastics, and encouraging selective waste collection and waste reduction at the airport.
