BIRMINGHAM airport’s buses will now be run on green electric power after the fleet was awarded £1.4million from government.
The plans are a boost for the airport which has cut emissions ahead of the so-called masterplan expansion – which has been criticised for potential rises in pollution.
The money will support the electrification of the airport’s landside bus fleet with ultra-low emission buses operating as a passenger transport service on all of the airport car park routes.
The money was administered by the Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme administered by the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).
The grant will partly fund the purchase of electric buses as well as the installation of dedicated bus charging infrastructure.
The remaining investment, to achieve this infrastructure, will be made by Birmingham Airport.
Airport chief executive Nick Barton said: “Since 2012, the Airport has reduced its CO2 per passenger by 20 per cent per passenger.
“This funding will support us in working towards lowering our CO2 per passenger even further which is just fantastic.
“We have made significant customer service improvements across the airport to increase capacity and improve passenger experience, with the vision of positioning Birmingham as Europe’s leading airport.
“The electric buses form part of this vision, not to mention their sustainability benefits being ultra-low emission.”
The airport is advanced in negotiations with a bus manufacturer and aims to have the necessary infrastructure works undertaken to commence the fully electric bus service in Autumn 2019.
The grant was announced at the UK Bus Summit in Westminster on Wednesday February 6.
