Cheapflights.ca Salutes Airports That Are Making Sustainability Strides

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - Apr 13, 2016) - As some of the busiest transportation hubs on the planet, airports have a special role in helping reduce the travelling public's carbon footprint. From installing apiaries and gardens to capturing most of their energy needs via photovoltaic panels, some airports are leading the way towards a greener future. In honour of Earth Day, the travel experts at Cheapflights.ca, the champions of simple travel search, present 10 top eco-innovating airports that are the forefront of the effort to make travel more sustainable.

Below are five airports from around the world that are role models for environmental commitment and creativity:

• Changi Airport, Singapore - Singapore's Changi International is consistently ranked among the best airports in the world and was recently rated number one in the 2016 Skytrax World Airport Awards. With all those accolades, it should come as no surprise that Changi isn't just a much-loved airport, but also an eco-conscious one. Changi boasts 919 skylights for natural light allowing the airport to minimize the need for electric lighting during the day. There's also an in-house nursery where the plants that populate the airport's extensive green spaces and gardens grow, and rainwater is harvested to irrigate these plants. Speaking of gardens, Changi takes being "green" very seriously. The airport has an impressive number of gardens including a cactus garden, sunflower garden, orchid garden, water lily garden, butterfly garden and a nature trail -- right in the airport.
  
  
• Pearson International, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Toronto's Pearson Airport has a unique eco-initiative that's been getting some serious buzz. In addition to several ecological and sustainability initiatives, Pearson has introduced a honeybee apiary, dubbed YYbeeZ. The apiary can be found along the trail near the Etobicoke Stormwater Facility and the honeybees are cared for by a local beekeeper. The bee hives at Pearson are in place as a way to help support food security and sustainable agriculture in the airport's surrounding area.
  
  
• Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, India - Terminal 3 at Indira Gandhi International Airport was awarded LEED-Gold certification for new construction by the Indian Green Building Council. The vast 501,676-square-metre terminal, which was constructed with a high percentage of recycled content, optimizes the use of natural light. In addition, battery-powered vehicles are used for transporting travellers between terminals, and the water management and treatment program uses more than 300 rainwater harvesting wells.
  
  
• Vancouver International Airport, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - YVR is the first Canadian airport to install a green wall -- the largest living wall in North America. The 18-metre wall is home to 28,249 plants on 2,173 panels and even has a built-in irrigation and feeding system. But YVR's efforts go well beyond the wall. Since 2003, the airport has utilized solar hot water heating systems in the domestic and international terminals, which help heat more than 800 gallons of hot water every hour -- adding up to $110,000 in energy savings each year. Vancouver International also makes it easier for passengers to make eco-minded ground transportation choices. One hundred hybrid and natural gas-operated taxis are licensed to pick up passengers, a move that resulted in the equivalent of taking 1,651 cars off the road and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 8,422 tonnes a year.
  
  
• Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, United States - In the summer of 2011, an aeroponic garden was installed on the mezzanine level of O'Hare Airport's Rotunda Building. It was the first aeroponic garden at any airport in the world and its produce supplies many of the airport's restaurants. Some green goodies being grown include Swiss chard, three types of basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, chives, bibb lettuce and gourmet lettuce mix. No fertilizers or chemicals are used in the garden. In addition, like Pearson, O'Hare has an apiary with more than 75 beehives and more than 1 million bees. O'Hare has the largest apiary at any airport in the world and the first major airport apiary in the U.S.

To read about the sustainability efforts taking root at five more cutting-edge airports -- San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, United States; East Midlands Airport, East Midlands, England; Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado, United States; Galapagos Ecological Airport, Galapagos Islands; and Boston Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts, United States -- see Cheapflights.ca's complete list of 10 top eco-innovating airports at www.cheapflights.ca/news/top-eco-friendly-airports.

About Cheapflights.ca, part of the Momondo Group
Founded in 1996, Cheapflights is a leading global flight comparison and deals publishing platform dedicated to taking the complexity out of finding the best value flights through the application of innovative, intuitive technologies: Smart search. Made simple. It is now a market leader in the UK, US, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand generating more than C$4 billion in global downstream revenue for its partners as it expands into numerous other territories. More than 120 million users visit its websites and apps each year, receiving more than two billion search results a month from across 900,000 routes. The 10 million strong opt-in subscribers to the Cheapflights newsletter receive the best deals from more than 120 travel businesses -- for whom it has driven more than C$80 million in revenue this year. Together, the Cheapflights platforms generate enough bookings for its partners to fill a Boeing 747 every five minutes.

In 2011, Cheapflights became part of the privately owned online travel search and inspiration network, Momondo Group.

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