The airport announced yesterday it converted its $100 million bank lending facilities to sustainability-linked loans.
Under the loan structure, Queenstown Airport will directly link its debt to the achievement of specific sustainability targets.
Queenstown Airport chief financial officer Andrew Williamson said the company set some clear targets in its sustainability strategy.
"The decarbonisation of on-the-ground operations and the terminal is an immediate priority, and we have made some good progress to date. We’ve worked with our banking partners to set ambitious targets to hold us to account as we continue to implement our sustainability strategy and decarbonisation road map," he said.
Four areas have been targeted under the loan terms. The airport wants to achieve level four Airport Carbon Accreditation, the leading global certification for airport carbon management. It will reduce Queenstown Airport’s Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, supporting net-zero promises.
Infrastructure will be installed that supports reductions in Queenstown Airport’s scope three greenhouse gas emissions, including enabling electrification of parked aircraft, ground service equipment and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
The airport also aims to reduce landfill waste across the terminal precinct. This will not include specific waste streams outside of Queenstown Airport’s direct responsibility, such as quarantine waste from international arrivals.
Airport Sustainability and Corporate Affairs general manager Sara Irvine said the airport was keenly focused on embedding sustainability across the company.
"Aligning our funding programme with our sustainability ambitions adds another incentive for us to achieve the commitments we’ve made," she said.
The airport was a council-controlled trading organisation, majority owned by the Queenstown Lakes District Council.
"These targets are designed to address some of the sustainability challenges airports are facing and enable us to support the sector’s transition to a low-emissions future."
The characteristics of the loan align the interest rate with Queenstown Airport’s performance.
Sustainability-linked loans have been executed with the airport company’s four banking partners: Westpac NZ, BNZ, ASB and Bank of China. BNZ and Westpac NZ acted as joint sustainability co-ordinators on the transaction.
The sustainability targets were externally reviewed by independent global environmental, social and governance ratings firm Sustainalytics and align with the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association’s Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles, as of February this year.
Queenstown Airport will ensure accountability by reporting independently verified target achievements to its lenders each year.
— Staff reporter
