Dubai Airport launches the world's first Sustainability Showcase
The Dubai Airshow 2025 will be held from November 17-21 at Dubai World Central (DWC). In this setting, Dubai International Airport - DXB, with dnata, flydubai and over 30 employees, debuts with the Sustainability Showcase, the first global showcase dedicated to low/zero emission airport operations.
At the heart of the initiative is the demonstration of a completely sustainable aircraft turnaround, redesigned from scratch thanks to data-driven management, energy optimization and advanced ground support means.
The Sustainability Showcase is designed as a two-stage journey. In the Welcome Area, dedicated to Decarbonising Airports and The Future of Flight, visitors find the big picture: how an airport can concretely reduce emissions (efficient buildings, renewable energy, low/zero emission fleets), what role electricity and hydrogen will play and how sustainable fuels (SAF) will play and the new policies can accelerate adoption at scale. It is the strategic compass, which clarifies where the industry is going and which technologies are already ready.
We then move on to the Static Display, built around an operational flydubai aircraft: here the public closely follows all the phases of the turnaround (from arrival to take-off) and sees how they change when they are rethought in a sustainable way. Shore power supply and air conditioning to turn off the APU, electric baggage tractors, hydrogen buses with their dispensers, photovoltaic systems, cooling and air quality solutions, separate waste collection and intelligent flow management: over 40 technologies and vehicles demonstrate that efficiency, safety and emission reduction can go hand in hand.
Six key themes guide the visit:
- Sustainable Turnaround: the entire air-to-ground cycle optimized (cleaning, catering, luggage, refueling, pushback) to cut time, noise and emissions.
- Electric Vehicles: the transition of ramp vehicles to electric traction and charging and fleet management infrastructure.
- Hydrogen Vehicles: where hydrogen makes the most sense (long distances, high loads, business continuity) and how it is safely refuelled in the airside area.
- Biofuels: the contribution of SAF for flights and biofuels for some ground equipment when electric is not yet viable.
- Energy Management: intelligent production and use of energy (photovoltaics, real-time monitoring, peak reduction, efficient HVAC).
- Circularity: reduction, reuse and recycling of materials and equipment, from on-board waste to ramp equipment, for increasingly circular operations.
The result is a complete narrative: from strategic vision to practical demonstration on the apron, with solutions already available that anticipate how airports will be able to operate cleaner, faster and more competitively.
On display are over 40 ready-to-use solutions (from electric luggage tractors to hydrogen buses and dispensers, solar panels, cooling/air quality systems and solar baskets) many already available locally. The initiative is part of Dubai Airports' sustainability strategy, which aims to reduce the carbon footprint of airports with efficient buildings, low-emission vehicles and green utilities.
