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LAirA (Landside Airports Accessibility) is a new Interreg Central Europe project that has started in May 2017. Dubrovnik Airport Ltd. is participating to this project and will cooperate with DURA in developing the local activities linked to the Dubrovnik FUA in particular the FUA report on airports employees mobility needs & behaviours, the application of the ITS tools at the node, building the strategy for Dubrovnik Airport long term low carbon mobility integration into the FUA as implementation strategy of the FUA Energy Efficiency in Public Transport Programme consistently with the National Strategy for Traffic Development. Dubrovnik Airport will be responsible for the Road public transport & DRT action plan in LAirA airport FUAs and also for Publications Activity.
LAirA addresses the challenge of the multimodal, smart and low carbon mobility integration of airports and airport landside access in the mobility systems of Central Europe. The project’s objective is to reduce the energy use and the environmental impacts of transport activities in airports and hinterlands. LAirA is planning to achieve its objective by changing mobility behaviours of airports passengers and employees and by building novel strategies of public entities in low carbon mobility planning. LAirA integrates seven key thematic areas: electric mobility, air-rail links, walking & cycling, shared mobility, intelligent transport systems, wayfinding, road public transport.
LAirA is financially supported by the European Union’s Interreg Central Europe programme, which is an EU cohesion policy programme that encourages cooperation beyond borders. LAirA is a 30-months project with a total budget of €2.23 million.
Project budget: 2.233,034,71 EUR
ERDF funding: 1.841.975,18 EUR
Project duration: 05.2017 – 10.2019
The project consortium is formed of 10 project partners and 5 associated partners. Our partners in this project are the following:
Follow us on our social media accounts:
LAirA Twitter: @LAirA_project
LAirA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LAirAproject/
Dubrovnik Airport Twitter: @Airport_DBV
Dubrovnik Airport Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ZracnalukaDubrovnik
For questions regarding the project, feel free to contact Dubrovnik Airport Ltd. at
Anita.Brailo@airport-dubrovnik.hr or the lead partner at laira@bp18.hu.
Budapest – 14 June 2017 – The Landside Airports Accessibility (LAirA) has officially commenced.This is an Interreg Central Europe funded project that aims to improve capacities for mobility planning in airport landside areas to lower CO2 emissions. All project partners gathered in Budapest, on 13-14 June, for the kick-off meeting of the project in order to proceed with the start-up activities.
LAirA addresses the specific and significant challenge of the multimodal, smart and low carbon mobility integration of airports and airport landside access in the mobility systems of Central Europe. The project’s objective is to reduce the energy use and the environmental impacts of transport activities in airports and hinterlands by changing mobility behaviours of airports passengers and employees and by building novel strategies of public entities in low carbon mobility planning. LAirA integrates seven key thematic areas: Electric mobility, Air-Rail links, Walking & cycling, Shared mobility, Intelligent Transport Systems, Wayfinding, Road Public Transport.
LAirA will be financially supported by the European Union’s Interreg Central Europe programme, which is an EU cohesion policy programme that encourages cooperation beyond borders. LAirA is a 30-months project with a total budget of over €2.3 million.
The project consortium is formed of 10 project partners and 5 associated partners. LAirA is led by Municipality of 18th District of Budapest with close cooperation from: Budapest Airport Ltd., Bologna Airport, Regional Government of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship, Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation, Dubrovnik Airport Ltd., City of Dubrovnik Development Agency, Airport Regions Conference, AustriaTech Ltd. – Federal Agency for Technological Measures, City of Poznan, Stuttgart Region, SRM – Networks and Mobility (Public Transport Authority Bologna), Flughafen Wien AG, BKK Centre for Budapest Transport and Warsaw/Modlin Airport.
Warsaw – 24 November 2017 – The second transnational meeting of the Landside Airports Accessibility (LAirA) project was held in Warsaw, between 22-24 November. Project partners had the opportunity to showcase their efforts that led to the first key deliverables of the project. Additionally, partners had the chance to take part in a study visit of the Warsaw/ Modlin Airport.
No wonder the project’s slogan is “Green ways to airports”. This time, the LAirA partners were literally taken to the airport, thanks to the study visit to Warsaw/ Modlin Airport organised by the airport itself. The on-site research allowed partners to get a better view of the existent mobility solutions and how these could be improved.
Furthermore, the host for the second transnational project meeting, the Regional Government of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship kindly received the LAirA partners in Warsaw to discuss the latest progress done on the project. More exactly, the first key deliverables, that consist of the analyses of the multimodal mobility systems in the partners’ airport landside area, were presented by the six partners involved in the task: Municipality of the 18th District of Budapest, Regional Government of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship, Dubrovnik Airport, Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation, AustriaTech and City of Poznan.
More good news were brought forward by the communication partner as well, as they presented some additional visibility tools: a tailored project newsletter dedicated entirely for the dissemination of the LAirA project results was created. Therefore, you will soon hear more about the progress made on the project and if you stay tuned, you might even be one of the first ones to use the brand intelligent transport tools for low carbon mobility. In this sense, it was announced that the LAirA project was warmly welcomed on social media, as the network of followers is constantly growing!
On this occasion, we would like to thank to our followers for their support, to our host for the excellent organisation, to our partners for their commitment and to you, end-users, for motivating us to do what we do.
Stuttgart – 29 May 2018 – The first transnational learning meeting of the Landside Airports Accessibility (LAirA) project was held in Stuttgart, between 28-29 May. Two full days of productive meetings led to considerable progress on the elaboration of novel action plans, which aim to innovate low carbon mobility.
Europe is gradually shifting towards a sustainable, low-carbon economy and society and mobility is an essential component of this transition. This is why, the first LAirA learning meeting opened up transnational policy dialogue on low carbon mobility planning, as project partners gathered to coordinate on the elaboration of novel action plans for mobility in airport functional urban areas. These plans are meant to tackle the challenge of the multimodal, smart and low carbon mobility integration of airports in the mobility systems of Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) of Central Europe. Hence, project partners are joining forces to elaborate action plans on seven thematic areas: Electric Mobility, Air-Rail links, Walking & Cycling, Shared Mobility, Intelligent Transport Systems, Wayfinding and Road Public Transport.
Furthermore, discussions were focused on the development of two intelligent transport system (ITS) tools that aim at changing the mobility behaviour of airport employees and passengers. The ITS tools represent an important milestone in the project, as they have great potential in fostering a crucial behavioural change at the core of the low carbon mobility goal. These tools, once developed, will be tested with the help of key stakeholders.
Lastly, there would not have been any productive meetings and results without the hosting partner, the Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation (WRS), who was in charge of the organisation of the first transnational learning meeting, and without the lead partner, 18th District of Budapest, who coordinated so well the successful event. Nevertheless, gratitude goes to the entire project consortium who proved that they found their way towards their shared ambition to improve capacities for mobility planning in airport landside area and to lower CO2 emissions.
As always, if you want to hear more about LAirA project and its achievements, stay tuned and follow the project on social media: @LAirA_project.
Brussels, 25 September 2018 – Following the European Mobility Week (16 – 22 September 2018), LAirA project continues to make its way towards achieving the low carbon mobility goal. Today, the project was presented at the European Parliament in a meeting hosted by MEP Maria Grapini and organised by LAirA’s communication partner, Airport Regions Conference. The event caught the eye of policy-makers, as it urged them to prioritise low carbon mobility on the European agenda. Also, the meeting offered a chance to stakeholders to have their say in mobility planning.
Improving surface access to airports is a crucial aspect on handling expected air traffic growth that will put much pressure on Europe’s airports and the transport network that links the airports with the city centres and their hinterland. The consortium of LAirA project strives to enhance airport access and to make it sustainable, hence the purpose of organising today’s event - “Airport Access: Key to Green Mobility”. Additionally, the purpose of this event was to highlight the specificity of airport access and to encourage the shift to lower emission transport modes. The event benefited from a diverse audience that comprised European policy-makers, local and regional authorities, airports, infrastructure providers, airport employees and passengers.
In the milieu of this event, LAirA partners and presenters reviewed international lessons in air-rail solutions as well as the adds-on of the horizons opened by new technology in supporting landside access. As the Airport Regions Conference Secretary-General, Léa Bodossian, asserts “presenting a European project at the European Parliament is an excellent opportunity to create the link between policy and the actual actions to be taken. The event fits the policy-making reflection and it allows policy not to be in ivory towers”.
The global shift towards low-carbon and circular economy are important aspects that ensure the competiveness of Europe. A unique initiative like LAirA project has the potential to encourage smart, environmentally efficient transportation that integrates airports with the urban areas they serve. Moreover, MEP Grapini highlights that “the knowledge created in this project can be transferred beyond the LAirA partnership, so that all European public authorities and airports can enhance their capacities to better plan energy efficient airport connections”.
Mobility has to be green from door to door. This is the reason why the landside access to airport is key to providing seamless connectivity in Europe. Today’s event highlighted that the outcomes of LAirA project can contribute to the low carbon vision. More specifically, the project stimulates a modal shift to active travel (cycling and walking), air-rail links, public transport and/or shared mobility with the aim to reduce pollution and energy use.
21 September 2018, Milan – The LAirA consortium gathered in Milan for the 3rd transnational project meeting. The timing of the meeting fits perfectly with the mobility agenda and policy priorities, as the event was in sync with the European Mobility Week. Hence, LAirA partners had the chance to exchange ideas with the transport community, while also discussing the latest progress of the project.
LAirA partners mobilised to keep up with the latest mobility trends. This LAirA transnational project meeting came up with a little extra: it was not only a review of the project status, but it was also an opportunity for the partnership to engage with additional mobility experts, from areas beyond the LAirA partnership.
This meeting was hosted by SEA Milan Airports, the LAirA partner in charge of reinforcing behavioural changes for green mobility. Within this meeting, the exchange between LAirA experts and external experts fostered ripe environment for fresh ideas for interregional cooperation. This exchange gave food for thought related to sustainable modes of transport and it paved the way towards new research initiatives.
At the initiative of SEA Milan Airports, LAirA consortium participated in an international workshop on the topic of electric mobility at airports. The event brought together European airports (Milan Airports, Gatwick Airport, Stuttgart Airport), policy-makers (European Commission – DG Move) and local and regional public authorities (Lombardy Region, Municipality of Milan, Budapest District 18, Airport Regions Conference). The participants exchanged ideas on European policies for electric mobility as well as on national and international mobility practices. The aim was to determine the prospects of electric mobility solutions and to improve the sustainability of airports’ landside accessibility.
The project partners got inspired by this international workshop and its outcomes will surely contribute to LAirA’s results. More specifically, Gábor Csaba Soóki-Tóth, from Budapest District 18, the LAirA coordinator, mentions that “once again we see that there is will and motivation to reinforce low carbon mobility, but there are still technical obstacles and they can be overcome if they are supported by policies”. Massimo Corradi, in charge of funding programs at SEA Milan Airports, asserts that “Italy is on track with the low carbon mobility shift and we are ready to catch all the opportunities. Interreg projects like LAirA help us to facilitate the approach and to be innovative in the mobility field”. Also, Léa Bodossian, Secretary-General of Airport Regions Conference, the European network of airport regions marked that “the wealth of experiences shared during these meetings is invaluable, because it shows how much regions are at the forefront of green mobility”.
Brussels, 23 January 2019 – International mobility experts and partners of the Interreg Central Europe project LAirA (Landside Airport Accessibility), debated the merits of different solutions for low carbon mobility to airports. These solutions are meant to support local and regional authorities, infrastructure providers and airports in achieving their goals for green airport access.
The conference Towards smart and low carbon mobility, organised in Brussels by the Airport Regions Conference, brought together European institutions (European Commission), international transport associations (UITP), public authorities (Budapest 18th District, Vienna City Council), airports (Vienna Airport, Dubrovnik Airport), and advocacy groups (Transport & Environment). These key players of the clean transport field reflected on the different aspects at the core of green mobility and its implementation.
Erich Valentin, ARC President and a member of the Vienna City Council and the Chairman of the Environment Committee and City Services, stressed the importance of sustainable airport access for the communities: Low carbon mobility to and from the airport is crucial for improving the quality of life of the surrounding communities and for supporting the growth of the airport as a hub that contributes to a greener future for its passengers and employees.
On behalf of LAirA’s lead partner, Budapest 18th District, Gabor Csaba Sooki-Toth noted that sustainable airport access has an important role in the development of the region and LAirA project aims to support the European vision of sustainable transportation through better urban planning and by providing mobility solutions accessible for regions, airports and users. Andrew Murphy, Manager-Aviation at Transport & Environment, highlighted that airports have a big role to play to change the access to the airport, but also that greater investment and regulation is needed to achieve low carbon mobility.
The conference mirrored one of the main objectives of LAirA project: to encourage airport passengers and employees to use sustainable transport modes when transitioning from an urban area to the airport. In this sense, the LAirA partners analysed several instruments for low carbon mobility and user incentivisation, such as electric mobility, air-rail links, walking and cycling, shared mobility, intelligent transport systems, wayfinding and road based public transport. In response, Isabelle Vandoorne, Deputy Head of the Sustainable and Intelligent Transport Unit at the European Commission (DG MOVE), said that the recommendations of these analyses could be a valuable input for the European strategy.
Sylvain Haon, Senior Director-Strategy at UITP (International Association of Public Transport), agreed that public transport is the most sustainable way for accessing airports and a good connection is fundamental to decrease emissions from land traffic. Ivo Cre, Director Policy & Projects at POLIS, the association representing 75 cities working on public transport, mentioned that integrated sustainable urban mobility policy can stimulate a shift towards cleaner and more sustainable transport modes.
The solutions and actions presented at this event will help further future activities that will improve and decarbonize access to airports, supporting cleaner airport areas as well as the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Dubrovnik, 15 and 16 April 2019 - New results and enhanced efforts of the project partners are getting the LAirA project closer to reaching its objective: the integration of low carbon transport solutions in the mobility systems of airports and urban areas.
The latest LAirA project meeting was held on 15 and 16 April 2019, in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and was organised by Dubrovnik Airport and City of Dubrovnik Development Agency (DURA). During this meeting, the partners of the project presented their latest results: a transnational action plan for multimodal, smart and low carbon accessibility in airport areas, a mobile application for mobility planning, several car-pooling platforms and a model for local strategies for airport long-term mobility integration.
The LAirA transnational action plan for multimodal, smart and low carbon accessibility in airport areas defines actions for sustainable surface access in seven key topics: electric mobility, air-rail links, walking and cycling, shared mobility, intelligent transport systems, wayfinding and road-based public transport. You can read the action plans here. They provide guidance not only to the LAirA partners, but the knowledge can also be transferred to non-partners. By looking at both the local situations and the European policies, the aim of this action plan is to help airports and regions better understand the gaps in landside accessibility and it offers concrete best practices for improving this aspect.
Furthermore, the surveys carried out in LAirA project show that passengers overwhelmingly tend to travel to the airport by personal car. Changing this mobility choice is generally the greatest opportunity to reduce CO2 related to airport access. LAirA partners are working on building ride-sharing platforms and also a mobile application that encourages green mobility planning.
A first mock-up of the mobile application was presented by its developer, SEA Milan Airports, at the Dubrovnik meeting. This mobile application could considerably contribute to the low carbon mobility objective, as it works with an algorithm that combines different transport modes and it indicates the greenest possible route. This mobile application also includes a CO2 emissions calculator, in order to make users more aware about their impact on their environment.
As for ride-sharing platforms, Budapest Airport, the Regional Government of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship and AustriaTech (the Federal Agency for Technological measures of Austria) are focusing their efforts to make shared mobility more efficient and accessible for airport employees. These platforms will allow employees to share their planned journey’s starting point and destination and organize common travels in order to reduce the environmental effects of transportation at the airport and its catchment area.
Moreover, a model for local strategies for airport long-term mobility integration in urban areas’ mobility systems was elaborated by the City of Dubrovnik Development Agency (DURA). Based on this model, the LAirA partners will collect best practices in a governance process involving airports, authorities, agencies, transport providers, associations and nodes. The results of the local strategies will be transposed into a common transnational strategy with the aim of enhancing integrate environmental management of urban areas with regards to mobility.
