MIA races past FY target for induction of EVs to its motor pool, adds fourth

Mangaluru International Airport (MIA), pursuing its goal of environmental sustainability in a focused manner, added the fourth electric vehicle to its vehicle pool for the current fiscal on the eve of Makar Sankranti. The airport in August last had initiated its journey towards sustainability by procuring two EVs for its routine operations and added one more in October last.

The specialty of this fourth EV is that it is a SUV which has been modified into a ‘Follow Me’ or ‘Apron Control’ vehicle for exclusive use on the airside, giving it the distinction of being among the few airports in India to induct an EV for this express purpose. Airports provide Follow Me for convenience, safety or combination of both and act as visual aid to guide aircraft from place to place.

MIA will procure three more EVs before the end of this fiscal to bolster its pool of green vehicles. “With the induction of this electric vehicle as a Follow-Me vehicle, the airport has completed its planned transition from fossil-fuel to EVs for FY23 and gone beyond,” the MIA spokesperson said. “The aim was to covert 40% of fossil fuel driven vehicles to EVs during the fiscal and the same has been achieved,” the spokesperson added.
 

Senior leadership of Mangaluru International Airport receive the fourth EV into its motor pool on eve of Makar Sankranti.

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MIA has also drawn up plans to set up a dedicated EV charging station on the airside to power up these vehicles that operate there. The airport has already set up an EV charging station on the landside. Switching to electric vehicles will help in curbing carbon emissions, thus reducing the carbon footprint of the airport facility and most importantly is also in line with its stated objective to achieve carbon neutrality by 2029.