A significant proportion of airport carbon emissions can be attributed to excessive car trips that passengers take to and from airports according to officials speaking at the sustainable Airports Seminar in London.
The emissions have been blamed on so-called 'kiss-and-fly' passengers, who are dropped off at the airport and then picked up again resulting in four car trips for every return flight.
Evidence for this statement was based on statistics released by the Manchester Airport in the UK, which revealed that 25,800t of CO2, 58% of the airports total carbon emissions, can be attributed to the vehicles that carry passengers and staff to and from the airport.
"We are now looking for ways to discourage people arriving and leaving the airport by car," head of environment for Manchester Airport Tim Walmsley said.
"We are in talks to improve the public transport system and are also looking into ways of making it easier for people to leave their cars at the airport while they are away."
The excessive carbon emissions emitted by the airports transport network where identified as a point of concern in Manchester airports bid to be carbon neutral by 2015.
The airport currently emits a total of 436,000t of CO2 a year and the airport has put in plans to reduce this figure, including reducing the amount of fuel used by the airport's fleet by 25% compared to the 2006 level.
The airport is also looking into replacing the existing fleet with hybrid vehicles and installing an on-site biodiesel factory.
By Daniel Garrun.
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