Estimating of emissions from cargo aircrafts: A comparative analysis at Turkish airports

Greenhouse gases, which have a significant impact on climate change, have increased as a result of human activities, especially since the Industrial Revolution. The transportation sector has a significant share in the amount of emissions released into the atmosphere. With the developing aviation sector in recent years, greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft have increased and adversely affected climate change. In this study, greenhouse gas emissions from cargo flights between 2015-2020 at five airports (Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, Istanbul Atatürk, Istanbul, Adnan Menderes and Esenboğa Airport) where air cargo traffic is intense in Turkey were calculated. The Tier 2 method developed by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) was used in the calculations. According to the results obtained, it has been seen that Atatürk Airport, where the heaviest air traffic was experienced between the years 2015-2020, ranks first in terms of total CO2 equivalent (e) and all other emission types and fuel consumption in all years. The airports with the lowest share in total CO2e emissions were Esenboğa Airport in 2015-2019 and Adnan Menderes Airport in 2020. It has been observed that there has been a continuous increase in aircraft traffic and total CO2e emissions at Atatürk and Istanbul Airports between the relevant years. In the other three airports, a fluctuating change occurred. Between 2015 and 2020, a total of 775.565.104,46 kg of CO2e emissions occurred at all airports. As a result of the study, it has been determined that the air cargo traffic in Turkey has been increasing day by day with the opening of Istanbul Airport and the amount of emissions released from aircraft has increased accordingly. It has been concluded that taking the necessary measures to reduce the environmental effects of air transport can be effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, even if air traffic increases. Keywords: Air Cargo Transportation, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, LTO, Tier 2