Budapest Airport publishes sustainability report
In the spirit of responsible and transparent airport operation, Budapest Airport has published its first sustainability report, for 2021.
For Budapest Airport, 2021 was marked by strategic decisions, ambitious commitments, key initiatives and prestigious international awards in sustainability. The company took huge steps to maintain carbon neutral operations and achieve its other sustainability goals, and set itself the primary objective of achieving net zero emissions 15 years earlier than previously committed, by 2035 at the latest. To this end, it has already introduced innovative solutions to improve energy efficiency and implemented measures to promote e-mobility in recent years, based on its net zero roadmap. Over the last three years, airport development projects worth more than 70 billion HUF have been implemented, taking sustainability aspects into consideration.
Budapest Airport’s sustainability report provides details on this, as well as the net zero roadmap, the airport operator’s water management, waste management, measures to protect biodiversity, as well as social and economic corporate responsibility projects. The report is accessible on the airport’s website.
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Budapest Airport’s Greeanairport program receives Effekt 2030 award
Budapest Airport’s Greenairport program has been awarded second place in the Green Balance category of the Effekt 2030 – Community Investment Awards. The aim of the award is to recognize and widely publicize exemplary and effective environmental and social investment programs by Hungarian companies. The main objective of the Greenairport program, in cooperation with airport partners, is to reduce the airport’s carbon footprint by curbing energy use, creating opportunities for renewable energy, developing e-mobility, reducing water consumption, phasing out single-use plastics and managing waste responsibly.
Under the initiative, the airport saves approximately 170 000 m3 of natural gas and 340 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year by upgrading the airport’s heating centers, and 140 000 liters of fuel and 350 tons of carbon dioxide per year by using electric vehicles and installing 35 e-chargers. As a result of these efforts, in 2019, the record year before the pandemic, the airport’s direct carbon dioxide emissions were halved and emissions per passenger reduced to a third of what they were ten years earlier. In addition, the green energy purchased will be able to cover 65% of the airport’s electricity needs in 2022 and 100% from 2023.
Community donations at Budapest airport
Budapest Airport placed a digital fundraising totem in the central part of the SkyCourt in Terminal 2 of Ferenc Liszt International Airport. Through this machine, provided by Change Hungary, passengers can make even small donations to the Robert Burns Foundation, an international charity for sick and disadvantaged children. On the digital device, passengers can donate to a worthy cause with their credit card or phone, by selecting the desired amount, and the donations go directly to the foundation.
The totem will be available at the terminal from 13 October, as part of a two-month trial run. The airport operator’s aim is to provide passengers with an easily accessible, fast, digital donation option, to help disadvantaged people.
Collective charity work is also a tradition among the employees of the BUD group. In September, for example, staff could collect donations for the Ments Életet AlapÃtvány (Save Lives Foundation), by exercising. In the Keep Moving BUD program, employees could record their time spent doing sports in an app, and Budapest Airport donated 1.5 million HUF to the foundation for the 1000 hours accumulated during the month.
