All in one blog!

Time to get down to work… for our economy, but for our environment as well.

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At the end of January, the Walloon Government awarded Liege Airport its new environment permit for the next twenty years. Among other things, this new permit defines noise limits for aircraft during the night, as well as imposing restrictions on the number of flights per year.?

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Putting a region’s economic development into context

Basically, a maximum of 55,000 flights/year for aircraft weighing more than 34 tonnes and/or 19 passengers is permitted. The permit also sets a maximum noise level for aircraft taking off at night. This level will gradually be reduced, becoming increasingly restrictive for aircraft fleets. As of 2030, the noisiest aircraft, like the Boeing 747-400, will this be totally prohibited from taking off at night.

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For the businesses and thousands of jobs within the Liege Airport ecosystem, this permit is seen as a positive sign. It demonstrates the Walloon Government’s belief in the vital role played by the airport in the Liège region, and in Wallonia more generally.

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Against this backdrop, Liege Airport is more determined than ever to carry on developing jobs and attracting new clients, as well as continuing to reduce its environmental footprint.

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In terms of employment, the latest study by Segefa (ULiège) estimates that almost 11,000 direct and indirect jobs are generated by the airport’s ecosystem (2021 figures)[1]. A very significant majority of these jobs are long-term, with 97% of workers on permanent contracts and 84% working full-time.

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In terms of economics, 145 companies are now working directly on the site, contributing to the development of the Liège region. Less visible but just as important, if not even more so, Liege Airport’s area of influences spills over to the south of the Netherlands, Flanders and western Germany... And, with connections to more than 200 airports around the world, the airport plays a key role in transport and logistics, both in Europe, and in other continents.

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Economy & ecology, complex but connected issues

Taking the environment as well as the economy into account continues to be quite a challenge for any airport. For Liege Airport, it’s all about evolving in a landscape weighed down by all sorts of paradoxical restrictions:

-????????continuing to provide attractive jobs in limited operating conditions;

-????????promoting any measure that could reduce the environmental impact without jeopardising the airport’s activities;

-????????reducing noise by imposing limits (prohibiting certain aircraft) while also continuing to appeal to airlines.

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The balance between the economy and the environment is not easy to maintain, but we feel that it is crucial that we take responsibility, because there is an urgent, inescapable need to overcome ideological divides so that we can build our future together.

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As pointed out by Fran?ois Gemenne in L’écho (8/1/2023), “an anti-capitalist stance can slow down climate action. Whether you are a capitalist or not, that’s the system we have.” [2] It’s an interesting thought. These days, it’s about moving forward within this system. And the new permit provides a framework and a clear response on how Liege Airport needs to think about its development.

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We need to accept this reality, and work with it from the inside. Let’s use the resources, tools and innovations available to us in Europe, Belgium and within our businesses to take sustainable measures. Let’s move beyond ideal or idealised visions, and let’s be proactive about the climate and our economy’s prosperity. As William Arthur Ward said: “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” This is the kind of purposeful, resilient attitude that Liege Airport has always had, and is fully committed to upholding. Below you will find some reminders about the measures the airport has taken “from the inside” over the last few years.

Acting from the inside for a sustainable, responsible future

Since 2003, Liege Airport’s Environmental Management system has been ISO 14001 certified. This certification is a management tool that allows us to organise the way we work in such a way that we can reduce and manage the impact we have on the environment, and embrace?continuous improvement?for Liege Airport’s environmental performance.???

Alongside 22 other airports in the Groupe ADP network, Liege Airport has signed up to the “Airports for Trust” charter. All the airports that have signed up to this charter share one and the same ambition: to lead the way when it comes to protecting the environment, to set an example in their field, and to embrace even more initiatives to roll out their policy to the whole of the airport value chain. The charter focuses on four major ambitions: move towards zero environmental impact operations (carbon neutrality by 2030); actively participate in the aviation sector’s environmental transition efforts, in particular by proposing airside solutions; promote the integration of each airport into a local resource system; reduce the environmental footprint of airport planning and development projects (sober design, low carbon construction and renovation of infrastructures and buildings).

In 2021, a CEM (“Collaborative Environmental Management”)?strategy was also introduced at Liege Airport.?This concept was developed by Eurocontrol to respond to the needs expressed by stakeholders to find collective solutions to the environmental challenges that they are facing. A “Working Arrangement” was signed in May 2021 between Liege Airport, SOWAER, Skeyes and four of the main airlines operating at Liege Airport. The main improvements delivered by the CEM strategy so far relate to improving aircraft landing paths to minimise fuel consumption and the noise impact on the ground.

Supporting decarbonisation

Let’s do everything we can to decarbonise aviation. The Airport Carbon Accreditation programme in which we are involved is one of the tools that is helping us to make progress in this area. It has already helped us to reduce our CO2 emissions in recent years (-64% for 2010-2015; -28% for 2015-2020).

The programme lays down guidelines for implementing a management plan for emissions which aims to achieve carbon neutrality with or without offsetting measures. In 2023, we are continuing to pursue our ambitions by including our partners in our sustainability strategy and encouraging them to reduce their emissions as well.?

Encouraging more restraint

Liege Airport reduced its mains electricity consumption by 35% between 2014 and 2021, and continues to install solar panels on the roofs of its buildings.

The airport is also improving its operations on the ground and in the air: avoiding holding patterns, continuous climb operations, idle descent, green taxing, electric chargers, replacing lights with a 100% LED system…

Since 2013, Liege Airport has been certified by the “Lean and Green” programme, led by Logistics in Wallonia. We are continuing to introduce measures designed to reduce our consumption, including in particular when it comes to energy efficiency and producing our own electricity.

Developing multimodal solutions

Let’s replace aircraft whenever possible. The transition towards a more sustainable economy demands greater coordination and integration among air, rail, road, sea and waterway transport providers. Liège is an international benchmark when it comes to logistics, thanks to its geographical location and its position in the main European freight corridors.

We need to capitalise on the existing infrastructure (Liege Airport, Liege Port - PAL - including Trilogiport and Renory, Port of Antwerp and the LLI rail container terminal in particular), anticipate future demands and forge new synergies so that we are in a position to offer complementary quadri-modal solutions (air, rail, sea/waterway, road).

Helping sustainable mobility really take off

Within the context of its development between now and 2040 (the master plan), Liege Airport has also made a commitment to a quick transition to sustainable mobility, in partnership with public authorities, by promoting the use of public transport and cycling/walking.

This means that public transport solutions will increase and be made more appealing, alongside the introduction of the tram service... The completion of the airport’s pedestrian/cycle paths connected to the “cyclo-strade”, the introduction of shared vehicles, the organisation of bicycle parking solutions and car-sharing, as well as the creation of a Mobipoint are just some of the projects that our teams are keen to investigate and introduce as soon as possible.

These projects will allow us really be part of the “modal shift” that is essential for sustainable mobility, and will help us contribute to the expected development of business parks (350ha) over the next 20 years.

Continuing to explore alternative fuels

Liege Airport is now ready to take SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel). But other initiatives are being monitored closely.?“We’re not going to solve the planet’s problems by going against science, but by working with it”[3], as the winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize for Physics, Professor Alain Aspect, pointed out.

Protecting biodiversity

A study by the University of Liège will be carried out this year to take an inventory of the species of flora and fauna on the airport’s site. This will help guide our approach to managing the airport’s green spaces, with a focus on practices designed to improve the development of biodiversity without compromising safety.

Preparing for the future

Above and beyond these commitments and practical improvements, Liege Airport would also like to hone the way its sustainable development strategy is organised. It is currently putting the finishing touches to a detailed roadmap to this end. For each theme in the sustainable development strategy, this roadmap will define a goal, a path and a series of indicators that will allow us to monitor the progress of the improvements.

This environmental roadmap will be structured around 6 areas: CO2 emissions and global warming; noise; mobility; biodiversity; air quality; soil, surface water and groundwater. It also needs to be able to adapt to technological advances, ambitions related to speeding up the decarbonisation process as well as legislative and regulatory restrictions.

While the roadmap focuses on the scope of the airport’s activities, there is also a plan to extend our work to include our partners (passengers, suppliers, airlines etc.) in a collective approach to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, using a similar methodology.

Moving forward together, with complete transparency

In order to raise the profile of its commitments and the measures it is taking, every year, starting in June 2023, Liege Airport will produce a public report about the practical progress made in its journey towards sustainability.

Today, we need collective, coordinated, practical solutions. We have always been open to any feedback that will allow an airport like ours to move towards sustainability whilst maintaining a focus on jobs and the economy.

So I would like to reiterate my invitation: let’s create the greenest airport in the world, and let’s transform our economy to be even more sustainable. Both in terms of time, and the environment.

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[1] These figures were affected by FedEx’s departure, but new stakeholders have come along, which has stabilised the situation.

[2] https://www.lecho.be/opinions/general/francois-gemenne-la-posture-anti-capitaliste-retarde-l-action-climatique/10438884.html

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[3] https://www.lesechos.fr/idees-debats/sciences-prospective/on-ne-reglera-pas-les-problemes-de-la-planete-contre-la-science-mais-avec-elle-1896735