AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) has been recognized as one of the few airports in North America to maintain a carbon-neutral status, a new report finds.
According to an article from the Austin Business Journal, ABIA has earned the Airports Council International's (ACI) Airport Carbon Accreditation Program designation for two years in a row. This designation shows, that even as one of Austin's largest income streams, ABIA can make changes to be environmentally friendly.
ABIA was the first medium-sized airport and the fourth overall airport in North America to achieve a "Level 3+ Neutrality" in 2021. This designation is determined by calculating the fuel burned by departmental vehicles and the natural gas used to heat the airport facility.
However, a key distinction is that the ACI does not include airline emissions as part of the "neutrality" indicators for airports.
After receiving this designation for two years in a row, ABIA has continued to offset residual emissions by investing in and implementing various projects throughout the airport, the article states. One of these projects includes a partnership with Austin Energy to generate 1.8 megawatts of renewable solar energy for the airport campus.
The renewable energy is used to power the shuttle buses and various airlines have partnerships to offer electric-powered ground service equipment. One of these partnerships is with Signature Flight Support. Since last year, the company has assisted in delivering sustainable aviation fuel to ABIA.
ABIA is predicted to have its busiest year on record, with an estimated 22 million passengers departing through its gates by the end of 2022. This is a 30% increase from the previous record, which was set in 2019. There has been a little over 13 million passengers that have traveled through the airport between January and August 2022, according to the article.
Furthermore, ABIA celebrated a one day record with an estimated 43,000 passengers during the week of Formula 1 and Austin FC.
Additionally, ABIA generated an estimated $7.6 billion in the most recent economic study from 2017 and is planning to add a second concourse to the airport. This concourse project will cost between $3.5-$4 billion and ABIA has secured $400 million of that so far.
Read more about ABIA here.
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