Connecting the Solent
Southampton Airport is a regional airport owned by AGS Airports Ltd. It connects the Central South of the UK to many UK and European destinations and is a vital travel resource for many business and leisure travellers.
Why join The Solent Cluster?
Southampton Airport considers itself fortunate to be a member alongside so many partners which share similar decarbonisation objectives and hopes The Solent Cluster can bring these businesses and organisations together to maximise the possibilities within the region and entice new green business innovation.
The original home of the Spitfire, Southampton Airport hopes to be at the forefront of present and future innovation. It aims to utilise its access to commercial routes to the Channel Islands and hopes to maximise the Freeport opportunities. With support from the Cluster, Southampton Airport can ensure it is at the forefront of decarbonisation.
The Solent Cluster presents a highly significant opportunity with the proposed production of Sustainable Aircraft Fuel (SAF). SAF gives aircrafts the ability to reduce emissions and fly on recycled carbon fuel. Produced from a range of feedstocks, including ethanol, household and agricultural waste, SAF can deliver up to 80 percent carbon reductions for each litre of fuel used compared to traditional jet-fuel. By aiming to produce SAF in high volume, Southampton Airport hopes that The Solent Cluster will play a huge role in the widespread adoption of SAF fuel within the aviation industry and help to combat issues of price and availability.
Net Zero ambitions for aviation
Southampton Airport has been carbon neutral since 2020 and in 2022 achieved Level 3+ Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA). ACA is the only institutionally endorsed, global carbon management certification programme for airports. It ensures airports look beyond their own emissions and engage collaboratively with stakeholders to ensure the industry reduces carbon emissions as a whole. There are six levels of accreditation with Level 3+ being the “Neutrality” stage. A key requirement of Level 3+ ‘Neutrality’ is that airports proceed with offsetting only once they have reduced their emissions as much as possible.
Since 2018, Southampton Airport has reduced its direct emissions by 74 percent and aims to achieve Net Zero for its direct emissions by the mid 2030s and will support the UK aviation sector to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions by 2045.
AGS, made up of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports, is a signatory to Sustainable Aviation, which includes a long-term strategy for UK aviation to sustain a 70 percent growth in passengers by 2050 whilst reducing net carbon emissions from levels of just over 30 million tonnes of CO2 per year, down to zero. These reductions will come from a range of measures including smarter flight operations, new aircraft and engine technology, modernising UK airspace, the use of SAF.
“Southampton Airport has an exciting future. The commercial routes to the Channel Islands are the perfect opportunity for the first generation of Electric/Hydrogen/Hybrid aircraft and the Freeport provides the opportunity for new aviation technologies to relocate to the region. The Solent Cluster can be the facilitator to join up these dots and help us all en route to decarbonisation.”
Steve Szalay, Operations Director, Southampton Airport