D-AIR

Airports are increasingly vital to the prosperity of regions, as they are no longer just part of the economy, but instead increasingly define regional economic ecosystems. However, the growing economic importance and growth of airports needs to be balanced against adverse environmental impacts as emissions from civil aviation have increased significantly in the last decades and it is forecasted that air traffic will more than double by 2020.

D-AIR, therefore, drives at converting airports into ecological sustainable transport hubs. Related to achieving CO2 reduction, it focuses on aspects of airport operations that can fall in the competence of public authorities and public bodies: It aims to achieve CO2 neutrality of airport operators activities, sustainable surface accessibility of airport zones and thirdly, involvement of business and R&D institutions in creating well connected green airport regions.

D-AIR will address the questions of what the best use of public funds related to CO2 reduction is; why some measures work at some places and not at others, and what the impact of cultural differences in carrying out certain measures is. The long-term objective is thus to create transnational guidance for decision-makers of project partner regions and all over Europe on how to achieve decarbonated airport regions.

Exchange of experience will be carried out in the form of study visits, the findings of which will be collected in reports that will then be elaborated into regional implementation plans with concrete actions and financial schemes, to be endorsed by each region’s decision-makers. The outcome of this process will be synthesised in transnational best-of documents, including concrete policy recommendations, to be widely disseminated to other airport regions and interested parties within and beyond the D-AIR partnership. Furthermore, a joint workshop on business and R&D involvement will take place. Its results bundled into a draft methodology report, it is to be finalised based on the outcome of experimental cooperation platforms, that is, soft pilot actions.

All the D-AIR partners are well aware of the need to find the optimal balance between economic growth of their airports and environmental sustainability, because if carried out properly, this will significantly contribute to the sustainable development of Europe’s urban environments.