Making sustainable airport master plans 

The Master Plan, a central part of the airport concession contract of a Latin American country airport, provided then, for the airport’s progressive expansion, to meet the demands of an increase in passenger growth over a 35-year period, thus ensuring the highest standards in services.

Even routine flyers before then, were jarred by the sudden appearance of high-rise buildings through common late-afternoon clouds as the plane plunged down over the city centre for a pinpoint landing. The experience has been less hair-raising since a new, suburban international airport opened later. Now, the discomfort, experts say, has moved to the ground.

The new facility was expected to be big enough to accommodate the landing of an Airbus A380. Whether the terminal could cope with an Airbus’s 800 passengers boarding or disembarking at the same time seemed to be in question just as the passenger terminal was seen then to be rather small. 

The airport operator quickly had to promise to buy more seating and better buses after complaints from passengers and airlines. Kinks in cargo and customs facilities still needed to be worked out. Food prices had apparently dropped after initial anger over sky-high prices; construction of a new food court across from the terminal was then under way, hopefully with more washrooms anticipated. With the state phone-company in charge of communications, the free private Wi-Fi had then disappeared. There were 60 check-in counters, down from 72 at the old airport — too few, given that authorities and airlines as at then had not yet developed capacity for electronic ticketing. Passengers who check in on the terminal’s south side reach security from the side, where they are accused of queue-jumping. At a time, passengers became jumbled and half had to clear security again!

The experience for domestic passengers was worse, having to board buses to get on or off planes, which previously wasn’t always necessary. A passenger could find him or herself riding in a bizarre vehicle that looked like a long-distance bus with most of its seats ripped out, with no way to get a passenger in a wheelchair on-board unless carried up. Including the time it takes the plane to taxi into position, the whole procedure can take as long as the flight.

The experience shared from some other projects give an insight into what to do to ensure that airport master plans meet their intended purpose: The first will be to establish a strong value proposition from the start. The master plan should have a legitimate and well-articulated value proposition to have a chance of long-term success. This is because master plans are engines of growth and economic developments not only for airports but also for the region where the airport is located.

Another is to follow up with fundamentals, which provide investor confidence. It is important that critical concerns which give key stakeholders confidence in the master plan vision be identified. Experts have identified having a clear regulatory environment; connectivity to the region should be clear, infrastructure quality good and land titles not being in doubt in any way as important considerations.

A master plan should be comprehensive, leaving room for flexibility. A master plan should make room for flexibility to deal with changes in political, economic, socio-cultural and even environmental conditions. In a Middle East master plan for instance, an earlier version of the plan had included modifications to the coastline and waterways. This was later amended to make room for more natural drainage to guard against flooding.

A successful master plan should assemble a skilled team to tackle all the essential components of the project. These projects must be seen throughout their lifecycle and an extensive range of skills is needed to plan, finance, build and operate a project the scale of an airport. In one case, there was a need in the early stages of the project development to structure and manage concessions for retail and commercial outlets. This will require skills beyond that of builders, architects and engineers.

Make proper forecasts and build according to the absorption rate of the project. It is important to understand and manage the probable absorption rate for the new infrastructure at the airport. This is because infrastructure can only be financed, operated and maintained on the basis that it is sustainable over the long-term, if it is put to use.

Effort should be made to invest early in core infrastructure to serve predicted capacity. By so doing, there will be no need for expensive replacement or expansion as demand grows. For technology infrastructure, there is a need to maintain flexibility and be cautious with committing to one provider or technology as the landscape shifts too quickly. When technology infrastructure is correctly handled with an eye on innovation, a lot can be harnessed from it for project delivery, customer solutions, livability, workability and sustainability.

Finally, airports should aim to build trust and a sense of partnership with the airport community, stakeholders, investors and customers. Doing a master plan for an airport may take some months, however, delivering on an airport project must be seen with the mindset of a marathon and so airports must have the required stamina to ensure proper project delivery on a sustainable basis. 

business a.m. commits to publishing a diversity of views, opinions and comments. It, therefore, welcomes your reaction to this and any of our articles via email: comment@businessamlive.com