Airport city development at mature airports: Structural, strategic and commercial aspects along the path of a massive change process

Abstract

Previous discussions have mainly given attention to the different functions in airport cities, which created awareness of what to develop in an airport city development process. This ‘what’, however, needs to be realised too. At the few existing airports planned on a white sheet of paper and constructed on green fields, the development process is complex but projectable. At organically grown airports, it is less about what to do than how to do it. There is no way to fully divide airside and landside activities without losing genuine airport specific unique selling propositions (USPs). Doing so could perhaps lean processes and simplify the reorganising process using other industries’ standards, like those the real estate industry has built. Abandoning the specific airport-features, however, would end up in an exchangeable business location. The target must be to develop an unmistakeable and profiled business location worthy to be called airport city. Airport city development is equal to creating a bunch of cross-linked business models. To be able to do so, mature airports must change their mindset from ‘controlling passengers’ to ‘serving clients’.