Sihanoukville International airport’s environmental commitment gains new recognition

Under the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA), introduced in 2009 on the initiative of the Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe), Sihanoukville International Airport, operated by VINCI Airports in Cambodia, upgrades to Level 3 certification of a program aiming at reducing direct greenhouse gas emissions while engaging stakeholders to curb their own emissions. Earlier this year, Phnom Penh International Airport, also powered by VINCI Airports in Cambodia, attained ACA Level 3.

The ACA program requires the monitoring of the airport carbon footprint and the implementation of actions to reduce the footprint over the years. To achieve the Level 3 milestone, the airport has invested heavily and deployed multi-pronged initiatives, including:

• Commissioning efficient chiller systems for the central air conditioning
• Replacing all light sources with LED technologies
• Putting in place automatic systems to reduce and optimize the energy consumptions in the main buildings
• Awareness campaigns across the airport community encouraging specific behaviors towards carbon management and reduction

Additionally, and as part of the airport’s Stakeholder Engagement Program, it has included third parties, such as restaurants, fuel suppliers, airliners, into the initiative, extending its benefits to the entire airport community and beyond.

The independently verified global carbon management certification program has 7 stages of certification: Mapping, Reduction, Optimization, Neutrality, Transformation, Transition, and Level 5, which accredits airports that reach a net zero balance in their direct emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2) and set a roadmap to reach Net Zero emissions on its Scope 3 by year 2050. In December 2023, ACI launched this new accreditation Level 5, awarded at this point to only 10 airports worldwide, among which 4 airports are developed and operated by VINCI Airports, the parent company of Cambodia Airports.

Cyril GIROT, CEO of Cambodia Airports, said: “We are continuing our commitment onward with respect to fighting climate change, intensifying our efforts in every possible way to substantiate our vision for Positive Mobility. Having our partners join concrete actions that we have implemented bodes well for our next accomplishments. I want to express my appreciation to them and to our personnel for their crucial contribution.”

VINCI Airports is the first airport operator to have committed to an international environmental strategy in 2016, to achieve the goal of net zero direct emissions across its entire network by 2050. VINCI Airports’ decarbonisation target was to reduce its direct emissions by 51% between 2018 and 2030. Achieved by the end of 2023, it has therefore defined more ambitious targets: -66% carbon emissions on scopes 1 & 2 between 2018 and 2030, and net zero emissions by 2030 for its airports in the European Union and London Gatwick + Edinburgh, and by 2050 in the rest of the world. Within VINCI Airports’ worldwide network, 51 airports are ACA-accredited, including 4 at level 5, 10 at level 4+, 15 at level 3.