Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport welcomes the Connecting Europe Days

Adina-Iona Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport, and Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and President of VINCI Airports, today kicked off the Connecting Europe Days at Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport, one of the three centers of excellence in the VINCI Airports network.

Adina-Iona Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport, and Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and President of VINCI Airports, today kicked off the Connecting Europe Days at Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport, one of the three centers of excellence in the VINCI Airports network.

The event was held in the presence of Henrik Hololei, Director General in charge of mobility and transport at the European Commission, Véronique Martin, Deputy Director of Sustainable Development at the DGAC (French civil aviation authority) and several hundred transportation stakeholders including more than 20 European media.

VINCI Airports presented its environmental action plan and its implementation at Lyon-Saint Exupéry, which in 2026 will become the first Zero Net Emission commercial airport in France:

  • Decarbonization of airport operations (scope 1 and 2) thanks notably to VINCI Airports’ vast photovoltaic program throughout its network, which will see the creation of one of the largest photovoltaic power plants in France (17 hectares) at Lyon airport.
  • Contributing to the decarbonization of scope 3 through innovations such as eco-modulation of airport charges, the development of sustainable biofuels and investment in hydrogen, which VINCI Airports is developing in Lyon with Airbus and Air Liquide.
  • Usefulness for the environmental transition of territories, in particular through a network of forest carbon sinks next to the airports, developed in Lyon notably with the ONF (French agency that manages the state forests, city forests and biological reserves).
Throughout the day, the participants were able to visit the airport and witness the landing of flights fueled with SAFs. They discovered an exhibition on the decarbonization of air mobility prepared by VINCI Airports, A4E Aviation for Europe, Wizzair and SESAR.

Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and President of VINCI Airports, commented: “We are very proud that the European Commission chose Lyon-Saint Exupéry as host airport to discuss the recovery of traffic and the environmental transformation of air transport. With airport, highway and rail concessions in seven EU countries, VINCI Concessions is a strong partner of the European mobility. We support the European decarbonization objectives, as illustrated by our action plan at Lyon airport, which we are pleased to present to a wide range of observers today.

The European Commission’s flagship event, Connecting Europe Days, takes place every two years and this year will be held in Lyon from June 28 to 30.