Ireland West Airport has welcomed the announcement by Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton TD, that funding to the amount of €504,750 from the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport has been approved for Capital expenditure (CAPEX ) projects.
The funding is provided to contribute towards investment in sustainability initiatives in the areas of safety, security and sustainability under the Regional Airports Programme 2021-2025. In 2019, Ireland West Airport was awarded Eco Merit Certification, which recognises that the airport is operating in an environmentally responsible manner with a continued focus on helping to improve environmental performance, reduce costs and manage risk.
The airport is currently part of the Airport Councils International (ACI ) Carbon Accreditation Programme which sets out a framework for airports to reduce and manage their carbon footprint. As part of this framework, it is currently progressing a sustainability and environmental strategy over the next five-year period and aiming to create an environmental green airport programme reducing overall carbon emissions and to achieve ‘net zero’ for its carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest.
The objective is part of the resolution, which was adopted at ACI’s annual congress meeting in Cyprus, which means that by 2050, Europe’s airports, including Ireland West Airport, will produce no carbon emissions, without using offset initiatives such as buying carbon credits.
The funding will be used for replacement vehicles including electric aircraft tugs, baggage conveyors, special assistance passenger transport vehicles, an incident support vehicle, an airfield patrol vehicle, a runway maintenance vehicle, a rescue vehicle, and hybrid ground power units, and funding towards an electric aircraft refueler is also being provided.
Welcoming the announcement, Arthur French, Chairman, Ireland West Airport, said: "We welcome today’s announcement of funding towards sustainability initiatives by the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton TD, which will assist the airport in undertaking important sustainability related projects in the coming months to support our commitment to delivering on the environmental green airport programme and to reducing overall carbon emissions to achieve a ‘net zero’ position by 2050 at the latest. We also wish to acknowledge the continued support of Ministers Naughton and Ryan and the Department of Transport during what continues to be a very challenging time for the airport due to the continued impact of Covid-19."
Deputy Alan Dillon welcomed the announcement saying: "I am delighted to welcome €504,750 in funding for Knock Airport (Ireland West ) to support the Master Plan for Carbon Reduction at Knock Airport and an extensive vehicle replacement programme. This will see vehicles being replaced by electric models. This funding represents a strong commitment by Government to help Ireland’s regional airports move towards carbon neutrality."
His party colleague Deputy Michael Ring added: "I am very pleased to see the Government once again recognising the importance of our regional airport and providing this substantial capital funding to it. The Government has stated that this investment represents an important step in the process towards the “greening” of Irish Airports."
While Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary stated: "This latest funding announcement brings the total Capital Funding allocation for Knock Airport to €2.7million for 2021 clearly demonstrating the Government’s commitment to securing the long-term future of the airport."
