Labels that validate ongoing commitment

During 2023, Genève Aéroport has been recognised by the awarding of several labels. 

At the end of the year, Genève Aéroport successfully obtained the SILVER medal from the EcoVadis rating agency. This recognition positions the airport in the top 15 % of companies evaluated by EcoVadis for its ESG (Environment - Social - Governance) performance. This underlines a continued commitment to respecting high standards in terms of governance, social and environmental impact. With more than 100,000 companies assessed in more than 175 countries, EcoVadis is the first and most reliable global rating agency aimed at improving company ESG commitments.

In 2023, the ACA 3+ certification of Genève Aéroport was renewed by the Airports Council International (ACI) at the end of the audit which took place in 2022. Now, the certification phase towards the higher ACA 4+ validation is in progress.

Earlier in the year, in March 2023, the company obtained the Entreprise Ecomobile label from the canton of Geneva, which is valid for five years. This label recognises companies that offer a mobility plan to their employees. Genève Aéroport is one of twelve companies having implemented concrete actions such as airport staff shuttles (NPA) operating outside of working hours, subsidies for employees favouring sustainable mobility (walking, cycling, public transport), carpooling, rules of allocation for parking subscriptions, participation in « Bike to work », etc. These measures, put in place by Genève Aéroport, concern employees of all companies active on the airport site.

Still on the subject of labels, in 2023, the General Management of Genève Aéroport has expressed its desire that in the future, including for the ambitious CAP2030 project, all new large-scale buildings should obtain at least the DGNB GOLD level label, and all major renovations should achieve at least SILVER level. DGNB is a very comprehensive sustainable construction label which encompasses numerous elements – six categories of criteria – ranging from the quality of planning to noise management during construction, including the minimisation of CO2 emissions and accessibility for people with reduced mobility (PRM).

¹ https://www.ge.ch/dossier/transports/mobilite-entreprises/label-ecomobile

Act on mobility

The Covid crisis is now behind us. Genève Aéroport has fully restored the Aérobus service, with 20 frequencies per day instead of twelve during the reduced service period. Thanks to Aérobus lines, early morning travellers benefit from a free service between 03:00 and 06:00 to get to Genève Aéroport from the city’s main urban areas. These lines are entirely financed by Genève Aéroport. No need for a ticket to travel on Aérobus lines ; a plane ticket or boarding pass for a same-day flight is enough.

In 2023, communication operations on the benefits linked to sustainable mobility offered to employees of the airport’s partner companies on the platform were carried out. 

Genève Aéroport carefully monitors the quality of the rail-airport connection and the offer of public carriers, particularly in the least served regions. Management expressed its strong disappointment to the CFF at the beginning of May when the 2025 timetables were revealed and expressed its concern at seeing its rail connectivity for its catchment area strongly impacted.

 In the same desire to encourage more sustainable mobility, in partnership with the federal government, Genève Aéroport made its financial contribution to the « early morning » train experience for passengers living between Bienne and Geneva to take the first wave (between 06:00 and 08:00) flights. On Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 December 2023, two trains ran between Bienne (departure : 02:40), Neuchâtel, Yverdon-les-Bains, Morges, Nyon, Geneva and Genève-Aéroport (arrival : 04:24) and allowed passengers from the cities mentioned to travel in the best conditions and with peace of mind by leaving their vehicle at home.

Electrification of vehicles and machines

Genève Aéroport aims to achieve a rate of 90% of electric vehicles and machines operating on the tarmac by 2030. In order to facilitate the implementation of this objective, the company financed and installed around twenty fast charging stations on the tarmac and supported the operation by distributing an explanatory brochure to all companies operating on the platform. Genève Aéroport’s ambition in this area was recognised by the Confederation, which responded favourably to its request for subsidies from the special air traffic financing fund. This support will make it possible to further strengthen charging equipment on the tarmac in 2024.

Genève Aéroport also subsidised the replacement, by partner companies, of thermal vehicles or machines with electric ones. In total, this covers 23 vehicles replaced in 2023, a record level.

In addition, the company has invested in the retrofitting of two new buses which will be delivered in spring 2024 (indicative cost per vehicle of 350,000 CHF). This operation consists of replacing diesel engines with electric motors while retaining the structure of the vehicle. Two new retrofit vehicles are still planned for 2024, bringing the fleet to eighteen electric buses out of 30. Between vehicle and machine replacements and bus retrofits, 31 % of vehicles operating on the tarmac are now electric. For Genève Aéroport’s vehicles, the rate is 39 %.

Highlighting the soundproofing programme

Due to its urban character, Genève Aéroport has for many years been deploying a soundproofing programme for homes in the eight municipalities near the airport. Since 2004, 4,184 homes have been soundproofed for an amount of 60.8 million CHF.

The programme continues with more sustained communication actions (website, leaflet) with municipalities and local residents in order to raise awareness of the programme among eligible owners.

The soundproofing fund is financed by a noise fee, modulated according to the noise class of each aircraft and collected at each landing. A specific fee for take-offs after 22:00 is also applied. As the fund dedicated to the soundproofing of housing is extremely healthy and has been used little during the pandemic, the collection of this fee was temporarily suspended for 2021, 2022 and 2023. The collection of the noise fee is reinstated as of 1 January 2024.

Limit the noise footprint

In terms of noise, the noise footprint curves for 2023 are not yet known. They are released at the end of the half-year following the year concerned.

For the year 2022, traffic partly returns to a volume comparable to the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, and consequently the noise impact linked to the operation of the airport. The 2022 noise footprint respects the SAIP reference frameworks, ceiling and target. It is higher than that of the new admissible noise for the second hour of the night (23:00 - midnight).

Traffic for the year 2022 is characterised by the significant increase in departures after 23:00, due to delays affecting rotations, mainly generated by the saturation of the international air network. These late departures are the main reason for the increase in nocturnal emissions. 

To respond to these nighttime situations, several operational actions have been taken. In collaboration with skyguide, departures before 22:00 are prioritised over arrivals. Genève Aéroport participated in a research project with Eurocontrol in order to identify nighttime delays in advance and encourage partners to make changes. A new lever is in the preparation phase : the establishment of a quota system with progressive and highly dissuasive taxes in the event of exceeding the quotas from January 2025. In 2023, thanks to the tool in the testing phase, some companies have voluntarily monitored their nighttime departures and anticipated this quota system by modifying their flight schedules at the end of the day to avoid take-off delays.

Green roof

As part of a large project which has been taking place in several stages since 2022, the seeding of the roof of the BLC was carried out in May 2023. A final stage of greening the current buildings will take place in 2024, then totalling around 10,800m² of green roof.

Materiality analysis 2023

In November 2023, Genève Aéroport carried out a materiality analysis in accordance with the guidelines of ISO 26000 and the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to prioritise the sustainability issues (Environment – Social – Governance) of Genève Aéroport and its main stakeholders. 

From November to December, Genève Aéroport surveyed its stakeholders. A map of the priority issues for the company will be established from January 2024. The results will be classified by importance in a table, which will be presented to the Management Committee of the Board of Directors in February 2024.

Since 2020, Genève Aéroport has implemented dialogue approaches based on consultation and the involvement of stakeholders, to develop constructive and transparent relationships with them. This dialogue contributes to the identification of the main risks and impacts of the airport’s activities, and more broadly to a better understanding of the evolution of the main societal expectations of stakeholders.

Launch of the reporting programme

Ahead of the publication, for the first time, of Genève Aéroport’s extra-financial performance report for the 2023 financial year, a reporting programme was launched to collect and publish important environmental, social and governance (ESG) data, in accordance with reporting standards (GRI, TCFD, Global Compact, ISO 26000, AOSS).

Partnerships

A new partnership has been launched with GAIN, a group of aeronautical companies in French-speaking Switzerland, to work within a collaborative group on sustainability aspects. The themes covered were : Swiss Triple Impact sustainability programme, carbon footprint, hydrogen, electrification, ESG certification, etc. Genève Aéroport’s participation in this group aims, among other things, to open the company to the external innovation ecosystem – to explore emerging technologies, solutions and practices in terms of sustainability through participation in programmes such as GAIN.

Other partnerships exist and are expanding in particular with the canton of Geneva and autonomous public companies in various environmental themes as well as with several French and German airports, and in particular with the EnvStrat group organised by the ACI bringing together numerous European airports around the themes of sustainability. 

On the subject of partnerships, the continuation of the collaboration with the Ornithological Rehabilitation Centre (COR) with the « martinet noir » project on 7 July 2023 should be noted. This day was highlighted during a programme « Rencontre avec un as de la voltige, le martinet noir » [Meeting with an aerobatics ace, the common swift] broadcast on Tuesday 29 August on Genève Grandeur Nature, produced by Léman Bleu.

Raise awareness about light pollution

Once again, the airport participated on Friday 22 September in the « La nuit est belle » operation. Objective: to raise awareness among the population concerning light pollution. As in 2022, the lighting on the airport platform was switched off as soon as traffic ended. The runway, the satellites and the P48, which for the occasion passed into the landside zone, were concerned. Only the tarmac lighting poles remained lit. The illuminated signs located on the roof of the main terminal, Terminal 2, Freight and the GVA Centre were also switched off.

Waste management

In anticipation of the validation of the new waste management strategy aimed at reducing environmental impact and responding to recent cantonal and federal regulations, training, developed by Ecolive in partnership with SIG, on the management of waste, was dispensed on 14 and 28 November 2023. Around ten companies from the platform participated.

Organisation of a conference-debate

During sustainable development week in September, the Department organised a round table which brought together André Schneider, CEO of Genève Aéroport, and Sascha Nick, researcher at the EPFL Laboratory of Urban Economics and the Environment and professor of sustainability at the Business School Lausanne. This round table organised for members of Genève Aéroport staff questioned the impacts of current aviation and allowed us to discuss perspectives for leading it towards sustainability.