London City Airport (LCY) has published its 2022 Sustainability Report, detailing its progress since the publication last year of Above and Beyond: our Roadmap to a Sustainable Future.
The report indicates that a quarter of the action plan commitments have been completed, with over a third progressing as planned.
It measures progress against three sustainability pillars. For the first, Decarbonising our Airport, the airport is making good progress, reducing its own direct carbon emissions and maintaining a reduction in emissions from 2022 despite significant increases in passenger numbers.
Additionally, LCY is a Level 4+ Airport in the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, has recorded that 68% of passengers accessed the airport by public and sustainable transport, and has undertaken trial flights at the airport for next-generation, more sustainable aircraft for entry into service later this year.
Robert Sinclair, CEO of London City Airport, said: “A year on from the launch of our Sustainability Roadmap, I am pleased with the progress we have made the past year across all three of our sustainability pillars. I am especially delighted that LCY has shown that, while passenger numbers increased, our overall direct emissions did not, which is an important milestone that we look forward to building on.”
The second sustainability pillar, Improving our Environment, inspired initiatives including a new £50,000 biodiversity fund for supporting local biodiversity projects. Additionally, the airport eliminated single-use plastic liquids bags for security by implementing new CT security scanners that allow passengers to leave liquids and laptops in their bags.
Through meeting the third pillar, Helping East London Grow and Prosper, LCY introduced a staff volunteering policy that will see all staff volunteer for a minimum of eight hours a year, increasing to two days in 2024.
LCY’s East London Meet the Buyer event provided £5.1 million in contract value wins for local businesses, with the airport additionally spending over £7 million with more than 80 local businesses in 2022.
Sinclair added: “The journey to achieve net zero emissions will take time and we face similar complex challenges as other industries around the world, including developing our future energy strategy to power our buildings and how we provide infrastructure to support our airlines with the right fuels they will need over the next decade.”
Image: London City Airport
