Aberdeen Airport, named Scottish Airport of the Year in 2022, was surpassed by Glasgow in 2023. However, Aberdeen won the National Transport Awards Hub of the Year 2023, ahead of Glasgow. Like Glasgow, Aberdeen has achieved the highest ‘Very Good’ PRM status from the CAA’s Airport Accessibility Report. It raised £100,000 for charities. It has also undertaken worthwhile employment and skills initiatives, partnering with the DYW and its Young Person’s Guarantee employer scheme to commit to providing opportunities to 16-24 year olds in Scotland through jobs, apprenticeships, and further education. Visits to schools have been ongoing throughout the end of 2023, and an apprentice is starting at the Airport in March 2024. Aberdeen also ran an impressive job fair with over 500 attendees.

Similar to Glasgow, Aberdeen has achieved carbon neutrality status for the emissions under its direct control and aims to achieve Net Zero carbon for direct emissions by the mid-2030s. Both are members of the Slave-Free Alliance, are signatories to Sustainable Aviation’s decarbonisation roadmap, the first national Net Zero aviation commitment in the world, and received a 5-star rating from leading global sustainability organisation Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB). Both Aberdeen and Glasgow’s electricity comes from 100% renewable sources, and they divert 100% of their non-hazardous waste from landfills.

In 2023, Glasgow Airport was recognised as the Scottish Airport of the Year. However, it was surpassed at the 2023 National Transport Awards by Aberdeen Airport, which won the Transport Hub of the Year title. Since its last entry, Glasgow has initiated efforts to implement its Sustainability Policy, including the commencement of the construction of its 40-acre airport-based solar farm. This solar farm can generate enough power for the airport campus and neighbouring businesses, equivalent to powering almost 15% of homes in Glasgow, making it the largest in Scotland. Glasgow Airport has also partnered with Connected Places Catapult to establish the UK’s first Connected Airport Living Lab. The aim is to conduct trials of innovative technologies to help decarbonise aviation and to develop a new skills programme to support its net-zero ambitions. Collaborating with the Glasgow City Region, Glasgow Airport is working towards growing the most inclusive, productive, and green economy in the UK by 2030.

Successful flight trials for the CAELUS Project, aimed at delivering the UK’s first medical drone delivery network, were completed from the Airport last year. Glasgow Airport was ranked fifth in the UK panel of airports in the 2023 annual assessment by the global sustainability GRESB report and was only one of six airports to achieve Level 3+ status from the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) programme. In 2023 and 2024, it hosted an impressive jobs fair with a total of 35 campus partners, receiving over 2,000 applications for the 550 jobs on offer. Additionally, it hosted the Institute of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Faraday Challenge Day in the terminal, where secondary school pupils engaged in an aviation-themed engineering challenge.

Glasgow Airport’s special assistance service achieved the top ‘Very Good’ status from the CAA’s Airport Accessibility Report (PRM). Its charitable programme, FlightPath Fund, delivered more than £120,000 to over 62 charities, local groups, schools, and clubs in 2023.