Sustainability

Eastbourne Borough Council's Events Department work pro-actively in our approach to sustainability at all of our events including Airbourne. We strive to ensure that sustainability is at the forefront of our decision making as opposed to being an afterthought. Airbourne brings a significant number of people into our town over the course of four days and we try our best to make our event carbon friendly.

Only 3.7%* of emissions generated by Airbourne are from the flying display aircraft.  In fact, all of the displays in total generate less than a one-way flight to New York!

The biggest generator of all emissions is actually from the people travelling to events, with 96.1% of all emissions at Airbourne 2022 generated by audience related travel, and just 0.2% from other sources.*

* Eastbourne Borough Council Carbon Emissions Report 2022








 

Before travelling to the airshow, please help us to reduce emissions by:

• travelling by public transport if you can
• car sharing if public transport is unavailable
• cycling or walking - two free cycle parks are provided in Howard Square and Wilmington Square - see site map for details
• Bringing a reusable water bottle and disposing of any rubbish responsibly - see map of refill and recycling points
   

Events such as Airbourne are key drivers for domestic tourism, promoting the staycation and reducing overseas air travel for UK holidaymakers. 
We are however mindful of our carbon footprint and are working towards a Carbon Neutral Airbourne in a number of ways. 

The team work with a range of organisations including Eastbourne Eco-Action Network, Plastic Free Eastbourne and Environment First to reduce emissions and waste.

Reducing Emissions

• Use of renewable energy for power and Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil fuel where possible
• Priority given to air displays signed up to carbon offsetting schemes
• Booking of local air displays and contractors to reduce fuel consumption
• Reduction in overall air display assets reducing emissions
• Promotion of travel to the show by public transport and electric vehicles
• Pilot transport utilising only electric vehicles
• Provision of two cycle parks to encourage travel by bike
• Use of mains powered electric where available
• Use of ESSO HVOl00 hydrotreated vegetable oil in generators to reduce emissions by approx. 74%
• Priority given to vendors that do not require electricity

Reducing Waste

• Additional water refill and recycling points provided
• Single use plastic prohibited in trade areas where possible
• Provision of dry mixed recycling service, with non-recyclable material treated at a local Energy Recovery Facility to create energy - no waste goes to landfill!
• Environment First staffed recycling points to educate and support effective recycling
• Printing of souvenir programme using vegetable based ink and FSC Mix certified materials from FSC certified forests, recycled materials and FSC controlled wood

Working Towards a Greener Future

• Carbon offsetting such as tree planting
• Free exhibition space provided to Eco Action Network for the promotion of sustainable living
• Promotion of STEM activities at the event throughout the military exhibition and OHM Energy zone, to promote renewable energy and training for engineers for the future
• Ongoing research and evaluation using ISO 20121 Sustainable Event Management and Festival Vision 2025 principles, to improve sustainability and help to inform future event planning across the UK

In 2024 Eastbourne Airshow planted 15,600 tropical hardwood trees in Uganda, as part of a United Nations scheme.

View United Nations Certicate for Carbon Capture & Sequestration

Eastbourne Borough Council announced a carbon emergency in 2019 and pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030. A group of over 200 volunteers have been set up under the collaborative umbrella of the Eastbourne Eco Action Network. Take a look at their website to find out more about what they are doing.

We'd love to hear from you about your visit to this year's Airbourne.

Please complete our short survey on the day of, or after, your visit - the information gathered will help us plan a more sustainable airshow in future.

The survey will be available on this page during the show - please check back or join the Airshow Insider to receive notification once the survey is available.