Turkey's 45 airports rise to leadership position in Europe with climate certification
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that Turkey has risen to second place in the world, behind the US, in the number of carbon-accredited airports.
Speaking at the Airport Carbon Accreditation Award Ceremony held in Antalya, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that Turkey ranks second in the world in terms of carbon-accredited airports.
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu made evaluations regarding the environmental targets of the aviation sector at the Airport Carbon Accreditation Award Ceremony held in Antalya. Minister Uraloğlu announced that in line with the 2053 Net Zero Emission target, the number of certified airports in Turkey reached 53 with the participation of other operators, raising the country to second place in the world behind the USA in this field.
It was stated at the ceremony that 45 airports under the State Airports Authority (DHMİ) were certified, making DHMİ the airport operator with the highest number of ACA certificates in Europe. In addition, Level 4+ certificate was presented to Antalya Airport and Level 4 certificate to Istanbul Airport.
Touching upon the environmental impacts of the triple runway system at Istanbul Airport, Uraloğlu noted that a 25 percent improvement in flight distances was achieved thanks to simultaneous triple runway flight operations, and 50,000 tons less carbon emissions were realized annually with short taxi times. It was reported that approximately 591 tons of fuel savings and a reduction of 1,867 tons of carbon dioxide emissions were achieved in flights carried out between September 18 and November 1 from the newly opened fourth main runway.
It was reported that solar power plants with a total installed capacity of 3.7 megawatts were commissioned at Erzincan, Sivas, Gaziantep, Van, and Muğla Dalaman airports to reduce energy consumption at airports. It was stated that the vulnerability of airports to the climate crisis was analyzed in cooperation with TÜBİTAK-MAM, and that they aim to transition the Free Route Airspace application, which allows aircraft to fly on shorter routes, to a 24/7 basis before the 2027 summer period.