Airports worldwide are facing increasing pressure to decarbonise their activities. Governments, investors, consumers, environmental action groups and a range of other stakeholders are all demanding emissions reductions from the aviation sector. This is manifesting itself in the form of passenger caps, increased landing & take off fees and the cost of capital, among other constraints.
In this context, the availability of accurate, independent and up-to-the-minute aviation emissions data has never been more important. Until now, many airports have had to compile data internally using manual tools that are time-consuming, heavily dependent on user input and often involve varying calculation methods. PACE Airports helps to address these problems by providing robust data on aircraft emissions which is automatically compiled from flight activity. This makes emissions reporting more accurate while providing actionable insights to enable airports to make strategic long-term decisions on how to attain sustainability targets.
Developed and operated by global financial services company Fexco, PACE Airports was recently launched to bring the benefits of the PACE aviation emissions data platform to airports around the world. PACE has quickly become the leading platform for aviation financiers, including global banks such as JP Morgan and aircraft owners and managers such as SMBC and Aergo Capital.
The platform integrates near real-time flight movement data with highly detailed aircraft and engine performance data, airline load factors, and local operational parameters to deliver comprehensive emissions insights. This enables airports to compile accurate emissions reports for aircraft movements and set and monitor KPIs for their overall emissions performance.
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Initially developed to meet the needs of the finance community, it is now being deployed to serve the airport sector. “Our ultimate ambition is to provide emissions data across the full aviation value chain,” says Fexco Group chief strategy officer Bertie Murphy.
According to Rob Neale, head of product and innovation for Fexco’s sustainability platforms and chief product officer for PACE Airports, independence, accuracy, precision and reliability are key differentiators for the company. He explains that the platform is not reliant on airlines to provide emissions data. Instead, the platform uses data from a flight tracking service to get real-time information on commercial air traffic around the world. That’s the base layer. Added to that are data points covering the aircraft type, its age, the number of seats, the average load factor for airline, and the payload in the belly of the aircraft.
“For example, our model can distinguish whether it’s a Boeing 737 in high density configuration with 189 seats or a multi-seat class configuration with 160 seats,” says Neale. “We also know the engine make and type on the wing of the aircraft and blend all that data into our emissions model to calculate the fuel consumed and produce data per flight for the aircraft, and for the passenger and cargo payloads. With this level of precision, we can also model the impact on passenger volumes for new routes, to help airports grow passenger numbers at a faster rate than the emissions generated. With PACE Airports facilitating both full flight emissions and the landing and take-off cycle, our customers can access real world data within 48 hours of the flight landing.”
The outputs are very precise, he adds. “We drill right down to whether the aircraft has winglets to reduce fuel consumption or not. We go to great lengths to ensure the data we provide is reliable and we compare our figures with those published by airlines and others to back test them.”
The PACE platform is also accredited to the two leading global standards for aviation emissions reporting. “We have been approved for reporting under the Pegasus Guidelines for measuring aviation emissions developed by the Rocky Mountain Institute in association with six global banks.”
Impact on Sustainable Aviation, a Frankfurt-based independent not-for-profit forum for aviation stakeholders, has also approved the platform. “Airports can have confidence in the accuracy and precision of the data we provide,” says Murphy.
Demand for that data is increasing with a growing number of airports around the world signing up for the Airports Council International’s Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) emissions reporting and reduction programme.
Neale explains that the programme has five levels. Airports at level one only have to report on certain aspects of their emissions. Those at the top – level five – need to commit to transformative decarbonisation goals and compile scope three emissions data for all aircraft landing and take-off (LTO) movements, including approach, taxi in, taxi out, take off, and climb out. Level five airports must also report on the emissions produced by the full flight journeys of all outbound aircraft.
“Our platform helps airports on their carbon reduction path by providing the actionable insights needed to inform reduction in aircraft related emissions,” says Murphy. “Our first customer, Christchurch Airport in New Zealand – a global leader in airport sustainability – is using insights from PACE to engage stakeholders and optimise operations, supporting them in reducing aviation-related emissions across the entire airport”
It’s all about decoupling growth from emissions, according to Murphy. “Our solution will inform how to grow traffic and passenger numbers without a proportionate increase in emissions, as an industry decoupling is a key focus,” he says.
Simple changes can lead to significant gains. Long taxi times add to emissions. Airports can use the PACE Airports platform to assess the impact of more efficient taxiing on overall emissions. “They can also look at other scenarios like the impact of airlines using more Sustainable Aviation Fuel or of aircraft becoming more efficient. They can use it to compare their performance against that of other airports or even to assess what the impact of new routes from a particular airline would be based on its emissions performance. It’s more than just a look back solution. It’s forward looking and allows airports to look at what their emissions will likely be in 2050 and decide on actions to ensure they meet their targets.”
Independent, accurate data is also increasingly crucial for the investor and finance community. “We see PACE Airports standing in the middle of counterparty transactions,” says Neale. “The platform can provide independent data on sustainability KPIs for green loans and other forms of sustainability-related finance. Financiers will be able to access up-to-date KPIs without sending in audit teams and airports will be empowered to take corrective action where necessary.”
One of the key advantages of the platform is that it is ready to go out of the box with no lengthy configuration required. “Airports around the world are already pre-loaded,” says Neale. “We are already collecting data on them and have the information and insights ready. If we meet an airport operator at a trade show, we can show them their data there and then. We can show them data that they may not have even thought about.”
The goal is to roll out the platform to airports worldwide and continue improving the product. “We have been developing communities of practice to share information, common challenges, develop blueprints for the future and so on,” says Murphy. “We have done this with banks and aviation leasing companies and are now planning to do it with airports. Collaboration is key. No entity has all the answers, and we want to share best practices and design them into the product.”
