Edmonton International Airport (EIA) and Air Canada are signing a new partnership to reduce carbon emissions and advance a green and sustainable aviation sector.
The EIA-Air Canada Sustainability Partnership aims to reduce the carbon impact of air travel with both organizations working together to test emerging green technologies at EIA’s Airport City Sustainability Campus, an ecosystem that EIA created to foster environmental innovation. The partnership reflects both corporations’ pledges to sustainability and reducing carbon emissions to a net-zero future.
EIA is a self-funded, not-for-profit corporation whose mandate is to drive economic prosperity for the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. EIA is Canada’s fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic and the largest major Canadian airport by land area. EIA’s Airport City Sustainability Campus is a living lab for accelerating the development, testing, implementation, and commercialization of technology.
Air Canada is Canada’s largest domestic and international airline and, in 2020, was among the top 20 largest airlines in the world.
The EIA-Air Canada Sustainability Partnership will focus on initiatives that will promote a cleaner environment and include the following:
- Electrification of aviation equipment
- Hydrogen fuel cell technologies
- Green power generation using Airport City Solar, the world’s largest airport-based solar farm
- Development and usage of sustainable aviation fuels, biofuels and hydrogen
- Replacement of single-use plastics with plant-fibre materials
- Drones for e-commerce and cargo delivery
- Other initiatives in industries such as agriculture and forestry to offset carbon emissions
“Finding good partners who share our core values is critical. Air Canada is passionate about reducing its environmental impact and our partnership shows how airlines and airports can work together to promote a sustainable future,” said Myron Keehn, vice president of air service and business development for the Edmonton International Airport. “This is only the beginning as we know that there are tremendous opportunities to lead in both an environmentally and economically sustainable way.”
These commitments will create highly skilled jobs, stimulate economic development, and help attract more investment to the Edmonton Metropolitan Region as it transitions to a greener economy.
“This partnership with Edmonton Airports is an important step towards our midterm 2030 objectives that roll up into our overall net zero by 2050 emissions goal,” said Samuel Elfassy, vice president of safety at Air Canada. “We look forward to working together in developing innovative, long term, sustainable airport and ground operations emission reductions that could potentially be scaled at other airports in Canada and internationally.”
As part of its commitment to net zero emissions from all global operations by 2050, Air Canada has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions from flights by 20 per cent by 2030 and from ground operations by 30 per cent compared to a 2019 baseline. EIA is the first and only airport in the world to sign The Climate Pledge, cofounded by Amazon committing to be carbon neutral by 2040.
For further information visit EIA’s environmental sustainability website: flyeia.com/environment.
Find out more about Air Canada’s ESG activities in the airline’s Corporate Sustainability Report: Citizens of the World.
