Cork Airport adds five new fully electric vehicles to its fleet

Kenneth Fox

Cork Airport has introduced five new fully-electric, zero-emissions, vehicles as part of the airport’s commitment to its Sustainability strategy.

The five vehicles, which will form part of the maintenance, electrical and airport police fleets, are part of Cork Airport’s ongoing commitment to reducing emissions by 51 per cent by 2030, in line with targets set out by the Government.

The new vehicles include two Ford E-Transit and Mercedes E-Vito vans, which will used by the electrical and maintenance teams while a new Skoda Enyaq will be deployed to the Cork Airport Police and Fire Service.

They said the vehicles will complement other electric vehicles currently in use by airport police, car parks and asset management teams.

Additional initiatives undertaken by Cork Airport include the construction of a new €6 million electrical substation - designed to future proof of the electrical infrastructure for decades to come; the upgrade of lighting on the terminal campus to more energy efficient, LED lighting; and the reduction of energy usage within the terminal building.

Outlining Cork Airport’s commitment to sustainability and energy reduction, managing director at Cork Airport, Niall MacCarthy said: “The electrification of our fleet is just one of a number of measures which we are undertaking to make our airport greener.

"We will be announcing plans and applying for planning permission later this year for a significant solar farm on airport lands to further reduce our carbon footprint.

"In addition, we will continue to announce new initiatives in this space. The team at Cork Airport are very proud that SEAI recognise our journey to not just being Ireland’s greenest airport in 2021 but the best performing commercial semi-state in energy reduction in that year.”

Last year, Cork Airport was named as Ireland’s “Best Commercial Semi-State Body” for energy reduction by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

In their report which was published in March 2022, SEAI commented that Cork Airport is on track to meet the 2030 target in energy reduction as set out by the Government.

They said so far this year, Cork Airport has reduced its energy consumption by 25 per cent versus the equivalent period in 2019.