Airside operations
White notes that the difficulty is in predicting if and when measures like these will be needed, but Burbidge stresses the necessity to err on the side of caution. “It’s really important that measures are timely and proportionate. It is essential for individual airports to carry out a climate-change risk assessment and then identify and implement appropriate adaptation responses.” While all EU countries have developed national plans for how they will cope with climate change, they are often unsubstantial and unfunded, with 20 out of 27 countries providing limited or no detail on their spending plans.
Hardening infrastructure and increasing surface drainage is costly. Researchers at Newcastle University found that coastal construction price for updating airports ranges from about £360,000 to £63m for each kilometre by metre. “These costs have to be balanced against the potential future damages and costs that are avoided,” says Burbidge. “Studies suggest that although climate- proofing critical infrastructure may increase the cost of a project by around 3%, the overall cost- benefit ratio of resilience investments may be around one to four.” Relatedly, the Climate Change Risks study by Eurocontrol estimated a one-day airport closure due to flooding could cost around £2.6m for a medium-sized airport (30,000–100,000 flights per year) and £15.7m for a large airport (100,000 flights per year).
Transforming tourism
Burbidge also notes that climate change is likely to cause a shift in tourism demand, which airports will have to respond to. “Some locations may become uncomfortably hot for tourism in the summer months, which could see tourists moving their holidays to the spring or autumn, or even to cooler locations with a more pleasant climate. This can have an impact on the number of passengers passing through airports, and the number of flights, infrastructure and personnel required. And although we expect such changes to be gradual, it is something for airports to think about in longer-term planning.” Fundamentally, adapting and building according to climate change is only a temporary solution – conditions will worsen as we continue to add to climate change, and regular adjustments will be obligatory. Ultimately, the only real solution is to decarbonise our energy uses and work to remove the carbon already pumped into the atmosphere. Doing so in an industry whose function relies on significantly contributing to emissions is a challenge, but as Bhasin notes, necessity is the mother of invention. “Researchers and engineers are constantly innovating in the areas of new
Future Airport /
www.futureairport.com Nine primary climate impacts on aviation
In a whitepaper entitled ‘Climate Resilient Airports’, the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) collected material from the Airport Planning Manual, Part II, and Climate Change Synthesis documents and identified nine primary climate impacts that are likely to affect aviation in the near future as a result of man-made climate change: ■ Sea level rise: elevated flood risk; increased risk of seawater damage; inundation of airport infrastructure; permanent inundation in some locations; rising ground water tables damaging infrastructure; and inundation of ground transport links.
■ Storm surge: damage to airport infrastructure and airport buildings; disruption of operations or temporary airport closure; reduced airport accessibility for ground and air transport; increases in contamination risk.
■ Increased intensity of storms: damage to airport infrastructure; accelerated ageing of the airport facilities; damage to mobile or fragile equipment; increased flight delays and cancellations; temporary airport closure.
■ Changes in average and extreme temperatures: damage on airport surfaces; take-off weight restrictions requiring longer runways or schedule changes; changes in heating and cooling requirements increasing energy consumption and associated environmental and financial costs; overheating of equipment or degradation of performance; permafrost thawing may lead to ground instability causing damage both to aircraft movement areas and infrastructure; impact on fuel handling and storage, due to maximum temperature restrictions.
■ Changing precipitation (intensity and type): abnormal precipitation quantities or location; need for increased airport surface drainage capacity; risk of flash flooding or inundation of infrastructure; potential risks to ground transport links; increase of existing, or emergence of new, drought regions, leading to restricted access to water supply.
■ Changing icing conditions: increased use of pavement deicers; reduced airport capacity; increased use of aircraft de-icing and anti-icing.
■ Changing wind: increased risk to aircraft operations due to high and varying winds conditions; potential risk of ground equipment being lifted and disrupting operations ground; limitations to aircraft loading and unloading due to high winds; in extreme high wind conditions, reduced airport capacity due to air traffic control tower closures.
■ Desertification: increased risk of soil erosion around infrastructure; water shortages; disruptive sandstorms; risk of encroachment of sand dunes on airport facilities; effects of sand on aircraft operations.
■ Changes in biodiversity (wildlife and ecosystems): changes in wildlife migration patterns; changes to the local biodiversity; increase in wildlife hazard.
Source: ICAO
construction materials, structural designs and construction practices to reduce the overall negative impact of our built world on the environment, both during construction and service,” he says. Above all else, the sector needs to move towards a greener future to protect itself in the long term – and fast. ●
Closing a large airport for one day due to flooding could cost up to £15.7m.
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