VINCI Airports’ and easyJet have opened the carriers 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 €32.8 million 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.
