The Shannon Airport Group Annual Report and Accounts 2024

Annual Report and Accounts | 2024

CONTINUING OUR SUSTAINABILITY JOURNEY Throughout 2024, we continued to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to sustainability through our “Reaching Further for Good” strategy. This comprehensive strategy is built on four key pillars:

Our dedication to sustainability also encompasses our business community. In 2024, we actively participated in the Shannon Chamber Midwest Sustainability Network and played an integral role in supporting the delivery of the second successful Sustainability Week for the Midwest region in September. Recognising our employees as our greatest asset, in 2024 we launched numerous initiatives to foster their development. From leadership and technical skills training to a comprehensive wellness programme, we ensure our team thrives both professionally and personally. Notably, 100% of our employees have completed Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion training, fostering a workplace where everyone feels valued and respected. EMBEDDING SUSTAINABILITY INTO OUR DNA Providing sustainability opportunities for our employees in order to build a culture of sustainability is a key goal of our strategy. We continued with our programme of monthly webinars, hosting expert speakers on a wide variety of sustainability and health and wellbeing topics, examples include financial wellbeing, home energy basics, digestive health amongst others. In addition to our webinar series, we ran specific campaigns and communications on topics including energy efficiency, single use coffee cups, biodiversity awareness and active travel. We are fortunate to have an engaged workforce who volunteer their time on our company Green Team and staff Charity Committee. In October, our Green Team organised a climate action interactive event for our staff and wider airport community

covering topics including Energy Awareness, Electric Vehicles, Solar PV, Green Finance, and sustainable living.

GREENING OUR OPERATIONS

Inclusivity is a priority for The Shannon Airport Group, and in October, Shannon Airport proudly joined the global Hidden Disabilities Sunflower initiative to support people with non-visible disabilities. Passengers can now use a free Sunflower lanyard to indicate they need assistance, and the airport team has undergone training to recognise and support those wearing it.

We recognise the critical importance of minimising the environmental impact of our business. As part of our commitment to greening our operations, we are taking significant steps to achieve this goal. We aim to realise our climate targets of a 50% improvement in energy efficiency and a 51% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. In 2024 we reduced our total GHG emission footprint by 40% against our 2018 baseline and improved energy efficiency by 46% against a 2009 baseline. To support our ambitious goals, in 2024 we established an energy management system for our operations including a dedicated energy management team and are currently working towards certification against ISO 50001. We commenced our multi-annual programme of building energy upgrade works that are critical to achieving our climate targets. These include the consolidation of our footprint, insulation of our buildings and the transition to more efficient renewable heating systems. In 2024 we also commenced the development of a €3 million, 1.2-megawatt solar PV farm, the first of its kind on an airfield in Ireland, which is expected to be operational later in 2025. This project, which is being part funded by the Government, will provide 15-20% of our airport’s electricity needs, significantly reducing our carbon footprint.

EMBEDDING SUSTAINABILITY INTO OUR DNA

GREENING OUR OPERATIONS

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE SHANNON CAMPUS

CREATING COMMUNITY IMPACT

our individual behaviours can have a beneficial impact on biodiversity and global warming. At The Shannon Airport Group, we are passionate about championing female leadership in the aviation industry. Women have played a vital role in aviation since its inception, and we must continue to encourage and attract more women to the sector. In 2023, we supported the establishment of the Women in Aviation Mid-West Region (WIA MWR) organisation, and in March 2024 we hosted a successful WIA MWR networking event at Shannon Airport to celebrate International Women’s Day. Keynote speaker for the event was Lynne Embleton from Aer Lingus. This event provided a platform for over 150 women from the aviation and aerospace sectors to learn, collaborate, and form lasting connections. We believe that gender balance and diversity values need to be instilled in children from a young age. In March 2024, we visited local primary

school children in Shannon to deliver an important message about gender diversity. When asked to draw job roles at Shannon Airport, over 70% of children depicted male figures. To challenge this, three female employees from Shannon Airport working in those roles visited the classroom, inspiring future female firefighters, police officers, and engineers.

Demonstrating our unwavering commitment to our community, The Shannon Airport Group supported staff-nominated charities throughout 2024, raising an impressive €100,000 for Milford Care Centre and the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland through a programme of staff-led fundraising initiatives. CREATING COMMUNITY IMPACT

Our commitment to accessibility and inclusivity is ongoing. Shannon Airport was the first in Europe to open a sensory room in 2017, and in 2022, we received Age-Friendly status from the World Health Organisation. We continue to enhance our facilities with age-friendly parking, additional signage, and improved wayfinding. Throughout 2024, we consistently delivered on our Biodiversity Action Plan by expanding our pollinator- friendly mowing regime across the Shannon Airport Business Park and airport approach roads. We engaged the community on the importance of biodiversity through talks in our Community Biodiversity Garden with employees from local companies, and supported local community groups, including the Shannon Wetlands Society.

In June, we proudly sponsored the Clare Garda Divisional Youth Awards for the seventh consecutive year, celebrating the inspirational young leaders of County Clare. This event honoured the county’s most courageous and unsung heroes, aged between 16 and 21 years, recognising their tremendous leadership, resilience, and community spirit.

In February, we sponsored a major exhibition at the Hunt Museum, Limerick, titled ‘Night’s Candles are Burnt Out. Climate, Culture, Change & Community.’ The exhibition explored how harnessing renewable energy from the abundant natural resources of wind and water off the west coast of Ireland can provide new energy resources, and how changing