How mapping out goals could help Charlottetown Airport fly into a greener future

Charlottetown Airport has released its first-ever sustainability plan as managers strive to reduce the travel hub's impact on the environment. 

The five-year strategy, which came into effect Friday, is designed to reduce carbon emissions and promote eco-friendly practices at Prince Edward Island's main airport, which served 400,000 passengers in 2023. 

It also outlines goals for diversity and inclusion, creating better community relations, and risk and crisis management. 

CEO Doug Newson said the Charlottetown Airport Authority already practices many aspects of the plan, but it was important to get the goals on paper. 

"We do a lot of these things on an annual basis as it is [but] we felt it was time to put it into … an actual measurable plan that we can look at over the next five years and make sure that we are doing our part to mitigate the environmental impact of activities undertaken at the airport," he said.

"What you see in this report are things that are… ongoing and then there's some new goals or targets for the next five years." 

Highlights of the airport's sustainability plan include: 

• Climate change: Reducing emissions by 15 per cent per passenger by 2028 (from the baseline year of 2017) while expanding the airport terminal's footprint. The long-term target is to have net-zero emissions by 2050.
• Community relations: Increasing financial support for community programs and organizations and supporting employees who volunteer with community organizations.
• Diversity and inclusion: Training all Charlottetown Airport Authority staff and transportation providers on the new Canadian airport accessibility training program and ensuring all employees participate in diversity, equity and inclusion training.  
• Risk and crisis management: Conducting a climate change risk assessment and adaptation plan and developing a cybersecurity roadmap.

When it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the airport authority can't do much about curbing the effects of air travel itself. 

But Newson said while the industry takes its own steps toward reducing its impact on the environment, there are other ways the bricks-and-mortar airport can contribute too. 

"Although we can't really control what's happening in the sky with the aircraft directly, it doesn't mean that we can't control or reduce our own emissions from activities that we undertake at the airport, whether that be our own energy use and equipment or construction of projects."

One of those projects is a $20-million terminal expansion that got underway in 2022 to help the airport cope with an ever-increasing number of passengers. 

Everything from managing the type of equipment used in those renovations to converting lighting to LED to looking at sustainable alternatives for heating and electricity will contribute to lowering the airport's emissions, Newson said. 

"We want to make sure that any new buildings or major renos are at least designed to have renewable energy capacity as an option, whether that's solar or geothermal," he said.

"I don't think there's one single thing that's going to get us there; it's a combination of initiatives and plans over the next five years that will help us achieve those goals."