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Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport, has added 17 all-electric Nissan LEAF vehicles to its fleet, with 12 being operated airside by security and baggage teams.

In total, some 8000 vehicles are licensed to operate airside at Heathrow, which is setting ambitious targets that encourage third parties to replace these with zero-emission all-electric vehicles – helping to reduce the airport’s carbon footprint.

Peter Leeming, Head of Operational Strategy at Heathrow, said: “We are aiming to establish Heathrow as a world-leading airport in [terms of] reducing emissions from all sources of activity.

“A key part of this is by targeting the conversion of 100% of Heathrow’s cars and small vans to electric or plug-in hybrid by 2020, with ultra-low emission standards for all airside vehicles to follow by 2025.

“We trialled the Nissan LEAF and found it was the perfect fit for many of our teams and the types of journeys they make.”

The LEAF, which was launched in 2010, is the world’s best-selling electric vehicle, with more than 260,000 on the road.