UK airports handled 228 million passengers during 2013, up 3.5 per cent (7.8 million) on 2012. At the six London airports the increase was also 3.5 per cent, to 140 million passengers. Source:
caa.co.uk
96 per cent of European travellers believe airports should offer free wifi; currently, 48 per cent of Europe’s 50 busiest airports do. Source: Skyscanner
Shoreham airport near Brighton, in Sussex, is the UK’s oldest commercial aerodrome, opening in 1911.
Beijing Capital International airport is the second busiest airport in the world
Already close to capacity: Beijing Capital International
released this March that allow state aid to help develop new airports and provide financial support to existing ones. The new customer-friendly and business-travel compliant Ryanair has another relevant observation on airport development: during the press confer- ence announcing its plans to sell its seats through Amadeus (following on from a similar deal with Travelport earlier this year), CEO Michael O’Leary pointed out that the airline was increasing its presence at primary airports as part of its attempt to get more business travel bookings via its new global distribution system partners. But Ryanair is able to get access to the primary airports, he said, because full- service carriers are cutting back capacity at big European airports as they find it hard to make money from their short-haul intra-European operations. He said this is particularly true in Germany where Ryanair is looking to grow. However, airport development can be
a sore subject in Germany: in 1996, five years after the idea was first raised, it was announced that a new airport for Berlin – Berlin Brandenburg – would be built on a site next to the existing Schonefeld airport. The new complex would incor- porate Schonefeld within its boundaries. Berlin’s historic Tempelhof was closed in 2008, and Berlin’s third airport, Tegel, was to close when Brandenburg opened, leaving Berlin with a single airport.
72 BBT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014
airports are part of the growth in their own right.
On hold: Berlin Brandenburg It took ten years for the various legal
hoops to be leapt through before con- struction work could begin and ground was broken in September 2006. At the time, authorities said that Berlin’s new airport would open in June 2010. It didn’t, and still hasn’t – there is still no date on the calendar and earlier this year a leading German politician, Martin Burkert, said the airport wouldn’t open until 2017 at the earliest.
NEW WORLD ORDER Contrast these examples from estab- lished European economies with what is happening outside of Europe, where scenarios are very different indeed. The situation in China and the Middle East is a sign of how the world is changing, and how these economies are embracing airport development as more than just a facilitator of growth –
All discussions about economic pow- erhouses default to China, and airport development is no exception. In research released earlier this year by the Sydney- based Centre for Aviation (CAPA), the statistics for China are breathtaking. Apart from there being US$45 billion (£28 billion) worth of airport development on an ongoing basis, by the end of 2015 there will be a further 69 new regional airports operational. At the end of last year there were 193 civilian airports in China, 24 of which handled more than 10 million passengers per annum. Beijing Capital International is now the second busiest airport in the world, but is operating at close to full capacity. So in 2013 the Chinese authorities decided to build another airport in Beijing. Known as Beijing Daxing, it will have eight runways and is scheduled to open in 2018. The Chinese government’s com- mitment to its airport infrastructure is not in doubt, although western op- erators might look at the financials and despair. CAPA claims that 90 per cent of regional airports in China are running at a loss. “While it might be in China’s interests to attempt to improve the economy in its regions by construct- ing these airports, there is the very real question of whether they will ever operate at a profit, and as a consequence
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