GMR Hyderabad International Airport earns prestigious level 4+ airport carbon accreditation

HYDERABAD: GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) announced that it has received Level 4+: Transition accreditation from the Airports Council International (ACI) in recognition of its alignment with global climate targets in carbon management.

This is the highest accreditation under the coveted Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) programme, introduced by Airports Council International (ACI) EUROPE in 2009.

The Airport Carbon Accreditation programme is the industry standard for the assessment of an airport’s efforts to manage and reduce carbon emissions.

The ACA programme comprises  6 levels: Level 1: Mapping, Level 2: Reduction, Level 3 : Optimization, Level 3+: Neutrality, Level 4 : Transformation, and Level 4+ : Transition, which makes Level 4+ the highest.

Pradeep Panicker CEO of GMR Hyderabad International Airport said, “Today, climate change is the most pressing challenge and as a global corporate citizen, Hyderabad Airport is building multiple pathways to reduce carbon emissions. Our entire airport operations runs on renewable energy with a mission of zero waste and zero discharge. This achievement reaffirms our commitment to environmental responsibility. We have set ambitious targets to achieve zero carbon emissions. We continue to invest in sustainable technologies and assets, enabling the airport eco-system to contribute to the environment and help build a greener world.”

“We are proud of GMR Hyderabad International Airport’s achievement in reducing carbon emissions and setting an example for airports in the region. Hyderabad International Airport is firmly positioning itself as one of the leaders in efficient carbon management and this achievement truly demonstrates its firm commitment to invest in a more sustainable future. It’s encouraging to see airports making tremendous efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change, and enhance climate-resilience in an era of unprecedented challenges for the industry", Stefano Baronci, Director General, ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East (ACI APAC & MID).

The 41st ICAO Assembly adopted a Long-term Global Aspirational Goal (LTAG) for international aviation of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 in support of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement's (2015) temperature goal to combat climate change.

The airport fulfilled the requirements of the various levels to attain Level 4+: Transition, during the period 2012 to 2023.

After being awarded a ‘Silver rating in ‘Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design’ (LEED) certification in the year 2008, the Hyderabad Airport collaboratively worked with the stakeholders of the ecosystem and initiated a carbon emission mitigation journey in 2009. Every year, the GMR Hyderabad International Airport conducts a due diligence for tracking the progress towards net zero carbon consistently and works around adopting energy conservation measures, some of which are:

•  Establishing a USGBC certified LEED passenger terminal building
•  Development of green cover that acts like a carbon sink for 712 tonnes of CO2/year
• Fixed electric ground power (FEGP) supply to aircraft replacing fossil-fuel- operated        Auxiliary Power Units (APU) and Ground Power Units (GPU) to avoid noise and exhaust emissions
• 10MWp Solar power plant operation and generation of renewable energy (RE) and use, purchase of green power from the state electricity board in place of thermal power
• Electricity consumption optimisation by energy- efficient operations  
• Category II Airfield Ground Lighting system with LEDs, Advanced Airfield Lighting Control, and monitoring system (ALCMS) and Individual Lamp Control and Monitoring Systems (ILCMS)
• Rapid Exit Taxiways, Parallel Taxiway and Connecting Taxiways to ensure the quick turnaround of aircrafts with reduced “ON” duration of Aircraft engine
• A newly built Ground Support Equipment Tunnel (GSE) enhances fuel saving and prevent carbon emission
• A Bio-Diesel filling station, a first in Indian airports and use of Bio-diesel for feasible vehicle fleet and fire drills
•  Phase- wise introduction of battery- operated Ground Support Equipment (GSE) vehicles in place of the conventional internal combustion engine- driven vehicles

By setting the net zero carbon emission target, GHIAL is contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UNSDG) 13: Climate action - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

The next steps in the Net Zero Carbon Emission journey include the use of renewable energy and electric vehicles (EVs), less global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants to name a few. Additionally, the airport aims to work on sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) with the airlines as part of the emission reduction journey.   

The airport was awarded with the "National Energy Leader Award" in 2019, 2020,2021, 2022 and 2023 by the CII. It has also clinched the prestigious “Excellency-Gold Award” in 2020, “Excellence Award“2021 and “Special Award” in 2022 at the Telangana State Energy Conservation Awards. Furthermore, in 2021, GHIAL got the BEE's 'Certificate of Merit' for attaining the highest National Energy Conservation Award score of 89.26 percent.

Airports Council International (ACI) works with governments, regional ACI members, experts, and international organizations like ICAO to develop policies, programs, and best practices that advance airport standards globally and represents the collective interests of airports around the world to promote excellence in the aviation industry.