Queenstown Airport Achieves Level 4+ Airport Carbon Accreditation

Queenstown Airport’s commitment to sustainability and progress towards decarbonisation has been acknowledged with Level 4+ Airport Carbon Accreditation from the Airports Council International.

The highest tier in the programme, which was launched in 2009 to independently assess the efforts of airports to reduce carbon emissions, is Level 5. Only 46 of the more than 40,000 airports worldwide have been accredited at Level 4+ or 5.

Queenstown Airport Chief Executive Glen Sowry is proud of the achievement.

“Aviation is a challenging industry to decarbonise. We’ve set ambitious sustainability targets and invested heavily to reduce our carbon footprint as quickly as possible. It’s pleasing to see that recognised, although there is a lot more work to be done.”

Stefano Baronci, Director General, ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East, congratulated Queenstown Airport for its significant strides in reducing carbon emissions, which he said set a benchmark for airports across the region. 

“By positioning itself as one of the leaders in efficient carbon management, Queenstown Airport demonstrates a strong commitment to building a more sustainable future. Queenstown Airport's approach aligns with our industry's collective vision of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.”

Since its initial carbon audit in 2019, the airport has reduced its operational absolute emissions by 71% and is targeting an 85% reduction in absolute emissions by 2028.

That progress is based on a commitment to electrification, transition to a certified renewable electricity supply, upgrading of assets and infrastructure to increase efficiency, and a decision to stop using a diesel generator for supplementary power during periods of peak demand.

To achieve Level 4+ ‘Transition’ accreditation, Queenstown Airport had to submit extensive documentation of its carbon management plan, work with other stakeholders to measure and reduce emissions, and a policy commitment to absolute emissions reduction in line with the Paris Agreement. It also had to fully offset the residual carbon emissions over which it has control, using internationally recognised offsets. All this was subject to a stringent assessment and verification process.

General Manager Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Sara Irvine said Queenstown Airport had been a member of the Toitū Envirocare Programme since 2019 and achieved Toitū net carbonzero certification in 2023.

“This year we transferred to Airport Carbon Accreditation because it is a well-regarded, industry-specific programme that allows us to benchmark our progress against other airports globally.

“The ACA accreditation is robustly verified and, in accordance with the programme standards, we are now tracking emissions from a wider range of activities beyond our direct control, including aircraft emissions. Our decarbonisation focus to date has been on the Scope 1 and 2 emissions we have direct control over. However, it is important to report Scope 3 emissions and to continue to work with our partners to address those emissions.”

The next target is to achieve Level 5.

Queenstown Airport will release its 2024 Sustainability Report in November.