Finnish airport operator Finavia has published its new responsibility program with the pledge to reduce the carbon emissions of all its airports to net zero by the end of 2025.
Mikko Viinikainen, vice president, sustainability and environment, Finavia, said, “Finavia’s operations at all its airports have been carbon neutral since 2019. We have taken practical measures and we have been able to reduce carbon emissions by 64% compared to 10 years ago. Next, we aim for our airports to have net-zero emissions.
“Our objective is to reduce our carbon emissions by 98% over the next three years. At net zero level, there will still remain a couple of percent points worth of emissions.”
Finavia aims to reach net zero as early as next year at its four airports in Lapland – Rovaniemi, Kittilä, Ivalo and Kuusamo – with Helsinki to follow in 2024.
All electricity used by the operator is already 100% wind and solar energy, while airport maintenance vehicles are filled up with renewable diesel made from waste and leftovers.
“In order to reach net zero, we are moving to the use of renewable motor fuel oil in our machinery,” said Viinikainen. “Currently, about half of our airports are heated using renewable energy, but the plan is also to only use renewable energy for heating.”
To neutralize the remaining carbon emissions, Finavia is participating in projects that capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, such as growing forests.
“We aim to promote the social, financial and environmental responsibility of our business operations. In addition, we want to be involved in boosting the responsibility of the entire air traffic value chain,” said Viinikainen.