Hamburg Airport – in which HTA/ HTAC has a 49 percent stake – has had an environmental management system certified in line with DIN EN ISO 14001 since as early as 1998. And since 1999, it also meets the stringent requirements for an eco-audit in accordance with the European "Eco-Management and Audit Scheme" (EMAS). This made Hamburg Airport the first airport worldwide to comply successfully with the demands of both DIN and EMAS, which set international standards in this field. The certificates have a three-year validity, which is followed by another examination of the environmental management system. At the beginning of 2002 and again in early 2005, the certificates for Hamburg Airport were renewed. Their validity now also extends to the subsidiaries and associated companies of the Hamburg Airport Group.

Hamburg Airport is particularly committed to improving protection from noise. In 2001, it became the first and so far only airport in the world to set up a noise protection hangar that allows engineers to conduct full-power static tests on any type of aircraft flying today. When an aircraft's engines are to be tested behind closed "acoustic doors", the plane is brought into the hangar and sealed off along three sides and the roof. Only the back wall remains open, to permit the aircraft's scorching high-powered exhaust gases to escape. The aim is to ensure that outdoor noise levels impacting on the nearest neighborhood are kept to a maximum of 65 decibels.

In its environmental program 2002-2005, Hamburg Airport's contribution to protecting the environment includes numerous modernization measures in buildings and handling systems. The installation of a "thermo-labyrinth" for instance, for heating and cooling a building, significantly reduces the discharge of CO2. Water consumption is being reduced by the installation of a rainwater-utilization facility for Terminal 1 and of special faucets in several of the airport's buildings. The new passenger bridges for direct embarkation and disembarkation reduce ground noise emission by making the use of on-board auxiliary power units unnecessary.

In the next three years, Hamburg Airport is aiming to further reduce its energy consumption, fuel consumption and the level of air pollutants. Amongst other things, the company makes increasing use of alternative energy sources. In November 2006, Hamburg Airport expanded its fleet of clean-fuel vehicles. Two hydrogen towing trucks now figure among the ground-handling facilities. Hamburg Airport is the first German airport to use natural gas as a fuel.