Ryanair Launches Electric Handling In 11 Major European Airports

Ryanair, Europe’s no. 1 airline, has today (27 Oct) launched electric handling at eleven major European airports – Alicante, Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Mallorca, Seville, Santiago, Valencia, Amsterdam Schipol, Gothenburg-Landvetter and Oslo – enabling zero emission turnarounds. These latest industry-leading developments represent a significant investment in sustainable operations, boost Ryanair’s commitment to reducing its environmental footprint and further pave the way to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Azul Handling, Ryanair’s handling partner in Spain and Portugal, will now be the first carbon neutral handling company in Spain – thanks to a €7.3m investment into e-Quipment, enabling the airline to offer zero emission turnarounds at these eight major Spanish locations. This leads to emission savings of 1,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

As well as its work in Spain, Ryanair’s turnarounds will turn fully electric at Amsterdam Schipol, Gothenburg-Landvetter and Oslo Airport, through a partnership with Menzies Aviation. These turnarounds have been made possible through the airport’s provision of changing infrastructure necessary for electric equipment.

Ryanair understands that aviation has a leading role to play in tackling climate change and is placing an increased emphasis on mitigating how its business impacts the environment. The airline’s recent $22bn investment in new aircraft will help lower its fuel consumption by approx. 16% on a per-seat basis, reduce noise by 40% and these aircraft will carry 4% more passengers. Ryanair is focused on partnering with industry leaders, such as Azul and Menzies Aviation who share its sustainability goals and are supporting Ryanair to align with the Paris Agreement.

Ryanair’s Director of Sustainability, Thomas Fowler, said:

“We are delighted to announce this industry-leading green initiative which represents Ryanair’s commitment to reducing its emissions. The launch of electric handling at 11 of our European airports is a major step in Ryanair’s pathway to net zero emissions by 2050.

The turnaround process incorporates a number of steps and pieces of electric equipment – including electric baggage tractor, electric baggage belt loader, passenger steps, electric ground power, and electric push back tractor which assists the aircraft with exiting the aircraft parking position – and this process is now carried out emission-free at these 11 locations.

At Ryanair we have committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and reducing CO2 emissions per passenger/km by 10% by 2030. That is why we have invested $22bn in new aircraft that will help us reduce our fuel consumption by approx. 16% on a per-seat basis.

We can now offer zero emissions turnarounds at each of those 11 locations when previously, a standard turnaround could emit up to 52kg of CO2. Our partnerships with industry leaders such as Azul and Menzies Aviation are vital to us in achieving our goal of being net carbon neutral by 2050.”