Noi Bai Airport achieves ACA Level 1 accreditation

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes · Last updated: 1 October 2026

Noi Bai International Airport has achieved Level 1 of the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA), the first airport in Viet Nam to do so. To meet Level 1 it documented emission sources, defined its inventory boundary and measured greenhouse gases from Scope 1 and Scope 2; Noi Bai also produced a Carbon Footprint Report. The accreditation provides a verified data foundation to track emissions, guide operational measures and comply with national requirements such as Prime Minister's Decision No. 42/2026/QD-TTg, which lists facilities required to conduct greenhouse gas inventories.

What Level 1 required and how Noi Bai met it

Level 1 of Airport Carbon Accreditation asks an airport to document its emission sources, set the limits of its inventory and quantify greenhouse gas emissions from both Scope 1 and Scope 2. Noi Bai reviewed the activities it manages, mapped emissions arising from vehicles, generators, machinery, wastewater treatment, refrigerants and grid electricity, and collected the activity data needed to produce a greenhouse gas inventory.

Using those inputs the airport prepared a Carbon Footprint Report that sets out the calculation methodology, activity data, emission factors and the resulting emissions. That report gives Noi Bai an initial quantitative view of emissions it directly manages and establishes consistent methods for collecting, storing and managing electricity, fuel and refrigerant data.

The Level 1 process stops short of operational cuts but creates the measurement baseline required for future steps: independent verification of the inventory, tracking trends over time and selecting targeted efficiency or fleet measures. The airport says these steps convert one-off mapping into routine emissions management embedded in operations.

How the accreditation ties into Viet Nam policy and ACV direction

Noi Bai positioned the ACA work within national and company policy. Prime Minister's Decision No. 876/QD-TTg dated 22 July 2022 directed measures to reduce CO2 emissions in aviation and to steer airports toward green criteria, and Ministry of Transport Decision No. 1679/QD-BGTVT dated 22 December 2023 set additional tasks to advance that effort.

More recently, Prime Minister's Decision No. 42/2026/QD-TTg dated 10 August 2026 placed Noi Bai on the list of facilities required to conduct greenhouse gas inventories. Achieving ACA Level 1 in 2026 gave the airport the inventory methods and data foundation needed to meet that legal obligation.

Airports Corporation of Viet Nam – JSC (ACV) issued Notice No. 5750/TB-TCTCHKVN on 31 December 2025 that assigns environmental protection and green transition tasks to ACV airports; Noi Bai says achieving Level 1 fulfils that assignment for 2026. Together, these corporate and policy measures create a clear near-term compliance pathway for the airport.

Operational implications and the next steps for emissions management

With main emission sources identified and quantified, Noi Bai can assess measures that suit its operating conditions: improving energy efficiency, upgrading equipment, making changes to the vehicle fleet and optimising operations. The Carbon Footprint Report provides the baseline against which such measures will be assessed and tracked.

Independent verification of the inventory is highlighted in the accreditation process as a confidence-building step for environmental reporting; the airport says verification increases confidence in the emissions data used for management. From a practical standpoint, the airport’s next tasks are routine monitoring, data quality improvement and selecting cost-effective measures based on the inventory findings.

ACA is staged: after Level 1 the programme recognises progress through Levels 2, 3 and beyond. Achieving Level 1 does not itself mandate specific investments, but it creates the evidence base owners and regulators need to prioritise interventions and justify capital or operational changes aimed at reducing emissions.

How progress could play out

The bottom line

Noi Bai's ACA Level 1 accreditation formalises the airport's initial emissions measurement work and positions it to move from mapping to management. The Carbon Footprint Report and the inventory methods provide the evidence base regulators and owners have requested under Prime Minister's Decision No. 42/2026/QD-TTg and ACV's Notice No. 5750/TB-TCTCHKVN. The critical next steps are independent verification, routine data collection and prioritising operational measures; how quickly those follow will determine whether Level 1 becomes the start of a sustained emissions reduction pathway or a compliance milestone that takes longer to translate into cuts.

What to watch

• Watch for Noi Bai's submission of its greenhouse gas inventory under Prime Minister's Decision No. 42/2026/QD-TTg; no date has been set.
• Watch for any announcement of independent verification of Noi Bai's Carbon Footprint Report; no date has been set.
• Watch for milestones from Airports Corporation of Viet Nam – JSC (ACV) on implementing Notice No. 5750/TB-TCTCHKVN for ACV airports; no date has been set.