Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) has become the the first airport in the Middle East to achieve level 3+ (Neutrality) of the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) program - a carbon management program developed by Airport Council International (ACI).

This came as a result of the combined efforts and continued collaboration between the numerous departments at Airport International Group, and their esteemed partners and stakeholders.

Since its induction as operator of QAIA in 2008, Airport International Group (AIG) has strived to uphold safety and security within and around the airport, and has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to protecting the airport’s environment, by implementing a comprehensive and holistic Environment Management Plan (EMP), which was carefully developed to assess the probability of a multitude of risks, related to airport operations and activities, on the surrounding environment.

This plan is reviewed annually to comply with the latest changes in national and international standards and requirements. QAIA’s EMP is developed to minimise and control sources of environmental pollution such as carbon emissions, in addition to the monitoring of several environmental elements, through an integrated waste management program, in addition to air quality, water and biodiversity management, as well as noise control.

Airport International Group’s participation in the ACA program began with the completion of the first level, ‘Mapping’, in March 2013, helping to determine the sources of harmful emissions on Airport grounds. This success was followed in March 2015, by reaching level 2, ‘Reduction’, as a result of the continuous efforts to reduce Carbon emissions, making QAIA the first airport to achieve this level in the region.

In order to further develop the impact of their endeavors, Airport International Group stakeholders and business partners were invited to participate in the program in order to move forward together towards achieving the third level of accreditation, ‘Optimization’. This collaboration was a fruitful one, as it qualified QAIA to yet again to represent the region as the first airport in the Middle East to achieve this level, in March 2016.

The future looks green for AIG as plans are forthcoming to continue taking firm action to protect the airport’s surrounding environment. These actions were the final step needed to achieve level 3+, ‘Neutralization’. This achievement was also the result of investing in several projects, the outcome of which was AIG being able to save $1.5 million by reducing power consumption in the years between 2014 and 2017, in addition to a reduction of 7.8 per cent in CO2 emissions per passenger, from 3.69 kg in the period from 2014 – 2016, to 3.40 kg in 2017.

AIG CEO Kjeld Binger said: “We at Airport International Group are committed to safeguarding the Airport environment, and ultimately that of the kingdom as a whole, a fact which makes this milestone achievement all the more impactful. We are pleased to become the first carbon neutral airport in the Middle East and this accomplishment could not have been achieved without our Airport International Group employees, in addition to our business partners and their dedicated staff. Therefore, we extend our sincere gratitude to them for their efforts, which reflect the resolve of the Jordanian people, and of this, we are extraordinarily proud.” - TradeArabia News Service