Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 18 January 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

National Aviation Policy: Dublin Airport Authority

Mr. Kenny Jacobs:

That is great. I have not been in Rotterdam airport for about 18 months. I think the Dutch have traditionally been leaders. We want Dublin and Cork Airports, as is our plan, to be leaders in this space as well. We want everything the Deputy listed, from the solar panels to the batter-powered and hydrogen aircraft, to be trials at Dublin and Cork Airports as well in the coming years, as well as everything else that is listed in our statement as part of our sustainability plan, such as only electric buses taking people from the carparks to the terminals. We have reduced our carbon by 26% while we have grown and added 14 million passengers. That is no mean feat. We have a target that we are net carbon zero by 2050. We have done a huge amount. This is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry.

On sustainable aviation fuel, there is not enough of it out there. That is what the airlines would say. Ryanair has a fantastic, big and brave plan to get 25% of its fleet using SAF by 2030. We would welcome more SAF being used.

We incentivise airlines that use sustainable aviation fuel and that will continue. We will work with the airlines and fuel providers to make sure that it will become a bigger part of what we do at the airport. The bigger issue is the production of sustainable aviation fuel.

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