VINCI Airports welcomes easyJet’s new base at Faro airport and launches first in-airport solar plant in Portugal

Pedro Siza Vieira, State Minister of Economy and Digital Transition of Portugal, Pedro Nuno Santos, Minister for Infrastructure and Housing of Portugal, Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and President of VINCI Airports, concessionaire of ANA, and Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet, celebrated today the opening of easyJet’s new base and the launch of Faro airport’s solar plant, the first in-airport solar plant in Portugal.
The base is a new illustration of VINCI Airports’ commitment towards Portugal and the Algarve region. Thanks to the 32.8M€ modernization program it delivered at Faro airport, VINCI Airports has been strongly enhancing the airport’s attractiveness towards airlines and passengers, since the beginning of the concession. The airport has become a central element in Algarve’s tourism strategy and a key asset for the future, as Portugal is preparing for the recovery of tourism. The opening of this base, which is the result of a joint effort between easyJet, VINCI Airports and the Portuguese tourism authorities, will contribute to keep opening new routes in Faro.
 
VINCI Airports also gives new momentum to its partnership with the Algarve region by launching Faro airport’s solar plant. It will have a capacity of 3 MWp and will supply Faro airport with 30% of its electricity needs, generating an annual saving equivalent to more than 1,500 tons of CO2. The solar plant is financed, developed, built and will be operated by VINCI Airports through its photovoltaic subsidiary SunMind. It will be operational in 2022.
 
By choosing Faro as the first in-airport solar plant in Portugal, VINCI Airports takes a new step towards the realization of its environmental action plan in the Algarve region. Since the beginning of the concession,
VINCI Airports has been activating partnerships with local environmental organizations such as the Center for Marine Sciences of the University of Algarve, to foster knowledge on the region’s fauna and flora. VINCI Airports has already achieved a -13% decrease in carbon emissions of the country’s airports network between 2018 and 2020.
 
The new solar plant in Faro is part of a global action plan deployed by VINCI Airports across all its 45 airports in 12 countries, with similar projects already deployed or in development in the Dominican Republic, Brazil, the UK, Serbia, Sweden, France and now Portugal.
 
Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and President of VINCI Airports, declared: "VINCI Airports is proud to be launching a new phase in Faro airport’s development today, alongside the Portuguese authorities. Together, we are placing the recovery of Portugal’s tourism under the banner of environmental progress”.
 
VINCI Airports, the leading private airport operator in the world, manages 45 airports in 12 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas. We harness our expertise as a comprehensive integrator to develop, finance, build and operate airports, while leveraging our investment capability and expertise in optimising operational performance, modernising infrastructure and driving environmental transition. VINCI Airports became the first airport operator to start rolling out an international environmental strategy, in 2016, with a view to achieving net zero emissions throughout its network by 2050.
This press release was sourced from VINCI Airports on 14-Jun-2021.