Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu spoke at the Airport Carbon Accreditation Award Ceremony held within the scope of COP31 in Antalya. Minister Uraloğlu expressed his pleasure in coming together to evaluate the sustainable future of the aviation industry on the occasion of the COP31 United Nations Climate Summit.
“WE ARE AT A THRESHOLD WHERE WE ARE REDWRITTING THE DESTINY OF HUMANITY”
Uraloğlu said that global climate change is one of the main problems that concern the whole world today. Uraloğlu made the following statements in his statement:
"While climate change deeply affects our daily lives, it also causes loss of life and negative economic consequences. We are at a threshold where we rewrite the destiny of humanity. This threshold will either open to the greatest failure or the greatest transformation of humanity. Either we will ignore this crisis and experience the greatest failure, or we will build the greatest success with a radical transformation in all areas from energy production to industry, from agriculture to urbanization and especially from the transportation sector to logistics infrastructure."
-“We Conduct Sustainability-Focused Studies, From Our Infrastructure Investments to Our Air Navigation Services”
Emphasizing that aviation has a strategic role in the growth of the global economy, the development of commercial and cultural relations between countries and the rapprochement of societies, Uraloğlu continued his words as follows:
"However, while continuing the growth of this sector, we have to reduce its environmental impacts, increase energy efficiency and leave a more livable world to future generations. As Turkey, we carry out our work in line with the 2053 Net Zero Emission target set by our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. We consider the growth of our aviation sector together with environmental responsibility; we carry out sustainability-oriented studies in a wide range of areas, from our infrastructure investments to our air navigation services."
“DHMİ HAS REACHED THE POSITION OF THE AIRPORT OPERATOR WITH THE MOST ACA CERTIFICATE IN EUROPE”
Minister Uraloğlu stated that the Carbon-Free Airport Project carried out by the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ) is one of the concrete examples of this approach in the aviation sector. Minister Uraloğlu spoke as follows:
"The Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) Program, carried out by the International Airports Council, is an important program that certifies the carbon management and emission reduction efforts of airports on an international scale. Within the scope of this program, 45 airports operated by DHMI have been certified at different levels. With this result, DHMI has become the airport operator with the most ACA certificates in Europe. With the participation of other airport operators in our country, the number of certified airports has increased to 53. Our country is carbon-free With these 53 airports having Airport Certificates, it is the 2nd country with the highest number of certificates after the USA in this context.”
TRIPLE RUNWAY OPERATIONS PROVIDED A 25 PERCENT IMPROVEMENT IN FLIGHT DISTANCE
Stating that he found it meaningful that in addition to this success of DHMİ, Antalya Airport's "Level 4+" and Istanbul Airport's "Level 4" certifications will be presented, Uraloğlu said, "The triple runway flight operation we have implemented at our Istanbul Airport stands out as an important success in this context. It is the first in Europe and in the world after the USA, three simultaneous aircraft landing-takeoff operations, a 25 percent improvement in flight distance, short taxi times and annual "We reduce carbon emissions by more than 50 thousand tons." he said.
591 TONS OF FUEL SAVED WITH THE 4TH RUNWAY
Minister Uraloğlu noted that the 4th main runway, which was put into service on September 18, brought serious flexibility to air traffic in a short time and constituted an important alternative, especially for eastbound departures, and said, "We saved approximately 591 tons of fuel and reduced 1,867 tons of carbon emissions with the operations carried out from the new runway. These achievements are an indication of our country's approach and determination based on international standards in sustainable airport management." he said.
Speaking about renewable energy investments in order to reduce the carbon footprint of airports, Minister Uraloğlu continued his words as follows:
"To date, we have implemented a total of 3.7 megawatts of solar energy at our Erzincan, Sivas, Gaziantep, Van and Muğla airports. We continue our new investments, especially our Esenboğa Airport and Air Traffic Control Center. Again, we added our airports to this category in terms of electric vehicle use and we use electric vehicles as follow-me vehicles or as service vehicles. We have also implemented energy saving at the LED lighting point. We strive to popularize zero waste certificate standards in all airports."
Minister Uraloğlu said, "Our adaptation studies to climate change constitute an important dimension. In this context, within the scope of the studies we carry out in cooperation with TÜBİTAK-MAM, we analyze the vulnerability of our airports to climate change, determine the risks and develop the necessary mitigation and adaptation measures." He made a statement.
Stating that they have implemented their environmental sustainability goals with air navigation services, Uraloğlu continued his words as follows:
"We have actually implemented the free route application in Türkiye and we are trying to develop it a little further. We aim to move the application to a 24-hour basis before the summer period of 2027. Thus, we will ensure less fuel and less carbon production. At this point, we will further our cooperation with ACI. I hope we will continue on our way together."
