Opinion

Airport World

Editor Joe Bates +44 (0)1276 476582 joe@airport-world.com

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Managing Director Jonathan Lee +44 (0)208 707 2743 jonathan@aviationmedia.aero

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Airport World is published six times a year for the members of ACI. The opinions and views expressed in Airport World are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect an ACI policy or position.

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Welcome to the new decade

Airport World editor, Joe Bates, reflects on the susceptibility of

aviation to outside events and the ‘economics and finance’ theme

of this issue. T he new decade has certainly got off to an eventful start with political events in Europe (Brexit) and the US (the impeachment victory of Donald Trump), Australia’s devastating bush fires and now the Coronavirus dominating the global headlines. The latter, of course, recently forced ACI to postpone March’s planned Airport Economics & Finance Conference and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur until later in the year.

While the delay is disappointing, it was no doubt necessary because of the potential health threat to delegates, and to me anyway, to quote the lyrics from a 1990s Shirley Bassey hit, it feels like ‘just little bits of history repeating’ after the 2002 cancellation of ACI Pacific’s Annual Conference in San Francisco (SARS) and joint ACI Africa/ACI World Annual General Assembly in Egypt in 2011 (Arab Spring).

I also remember having my temperature taken to see if I had Avian Influenza (bird flu) shortly after getting off the plane in Kuala Lumpur for the joint ACI Asia-Pacific/ACI World Assembly in 2009, but luckily that event went ahead as scheduled.

Events such as pandemics inevitably have a negative impact on traffic figures across the planet, but history tells us that aviation’s resiliency to events beyond its control means that it will be only a matter of time before things change and passenger numbers pick up again. Indeed, I’m sure that aviation’s ability to bounce back from adversity is a major reason behind the enduring appeal of airports to global investors, with almost every potential transaction attracting a host of interested parties ranging from traditional airport operators to investment banks, construction companies and pension funds.

This, despite the fact that ACI World regularly reminds us that the majority of the world’s airports don’t earn enough revenue from aviation activity to cover their operational costs.

AW Today’s airport investors are, thankfully, much more switched on than some of the “get rich quick” type investors of the past, recognising that in order to succeed in such a highly competitive business they will need both short and long-term strategies and shareholders that are committed to improving the operational efficiency, capacity and non-commercial revenues of their airports. You can find out all about the world’s biggest and most prolific airport investors in our comprehensive ‘A-Z of global airport operators’ feature in the ‘economics and finance’ themed section of this issue.

The section also includes an airport city/ aerotropolis update from Dr John Kasarda; our annual ‘Buying game’ feature on the airport transactions of 2019 and possible deals of 2020; and articles about ‘the economics of route development’ and an airport city vision for Newark Liberty International Airport.

Elsewhere in the issue, you can discover more about San Antonio’s customer service success story; the threat of rising water levels to airports; and consider how IT will help airports improve their operational efficiency and the passenger experience.

We also round up the latest retail/F&B news from across the globe; hear from ACI World director general, Angela Gittens, who provides her thoughts on some of the economic challenges and opportunities facing airports; cover human resources in our regular ‘People matters’ column; and discover the latest industry news on our World Business Partner pages.

Finally, I would like to say a very warm welcome to the new director general of ACI Asia-Pacific, Stefano Baronci, and new regional director of ACI Latin AmericaCaribbean, Rafael Echevarne, who need no introduction to the ACI family having both previously served as the economics director of ACI World in Montréal.

ISSUE 1 Volume 25

In this issue

3 Opinion Airport World editor, Joe Bates, reflects on the susceptibility of aviation to outside events and the ‘economics and finance’ theme of this issue.

8 World in motion ACI World’s communications manager, Sabrina Guerrieri, reports on the update of the airport networks policy brief and the launch of two new reports on autonomous vehicles and systems.

11 View from the top ACI World director general, Angela Gittens, provides her thoughts on some of the economic, operational and infrastructural challenges and opportunities facing airports.

13 The buying game Simon Morris, vice president at ICF International, reviews some of the major airport transactions of last year and speculates what deals could be in store for 2020.

16 The A-Z of global airport operators Joe Bates find out more about the ambitions, business philosophies and development plans of 28 operators with a global portfolio of airports.

34 Fantastic journey! AviaDev Europe’s managing director, Juraj Toth, discusses the economics of route development and the global value of aviation.

36 Aerotropolis business magnets How are the world’s airport city/aerotropolis developments faring? Some hugely ambitious projects in the Asia-Pacific region come under the microscope in the first of a two-part global review by Dr John Kasarda.

41 Big plans for Newark Liberty HOK’s Carl Galioto and William Kenworthey outline the vision to transform Newark Liberty into an airport city connected to rail, commerce and community.

42 Fly easier Rich Stinson tells us more about San Antonio International Airport’s multi-layered approach to customer service and how it is using technology to enhance the visitor experience.

45 Flood warning! NACO’s Vivek Sindhamani and Peter Vorage discuss the growing threat of flooding to airports and how some major hubs are planning ahead to increase their resilience to rising water levels.

49 Time to evolve? Honeywell’s growth sales leader for airports, Gert Taeymans, explains how adopting an operating expenditure (OPEX) business model and new technology can help airports optimise operational efficiency.

50 Eating out! Dubai’s new food court of the future, Australia’s first working brewery inside an airport and Irish food and drink taking centre stage at Dublin Airport are on the menu in our global retail/F&B round-up.

52 WBP News The latest global news from ACI’s World Business Partners.

Director General Angela Gittens (Montreal, Canada)

Chair Martin Eurnekián (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Vice Chair Aimen Al-Hosni (Muscat, Oman)

Immediate Past Chair Fredrick J Piccolo (Sarasota, USA)

Treasurer Emmanuel Menanteau (Osaka, Japan)

ACI WORLD GOVERNING BOARD

DIRECTORS

Africa (3) Zouhair El Aoufir (Rabat, Morocco) Emanuel Chavez (Maputo, Mozambique) 1 Vacancy

Asia-Pacific (9) Aimen Al-Hosni (Muscat, Oman) Kjeld Binger (Amman, Jordan) Geoff Culbert (Sydney, Australia) Fred Lam (Hong Kong) Seow Hiang Lee (Singapore) Xue Song Liu, (Beijing, China) Emmanuel Menanteau (Osaka, Japan) PS Nair (Delhi, India) 1 Vacancy

Europe (7) Daniel Burkard (Moscow, Russia) David Ciceo (Cluj-Napoca, Romania) Elena Mayoral Corcuera (Madrid, Spain) Jost Lammers (Munich, Germany) Yiannis Paraschis (Athens, Greece) Stefan Schulte (Frankfurt, Germany) Nazareno Ventola (Bologna, Italy)

Latin America & Caribbean (3) Ezequiel Barrenechea (Lima, Peru) Martin Eurnekián (Buenos Aires, Argentina) Andrew O’Brian (Quito, Ecuador)

North America (6) Lew Bleiweis (Asheville, USA) Joyce Carter (Halifax, Canda) Deborah Flint (Toronto, Canada) Joseph Lopano (Tampa, USA) Candace McGraw (Cincinnati, USA) Sam Samaddar (Kelowna, Canada)

Regional Advisers to the World Governing Board (10) Diego Arrosa (Montevideo, Uruguay) Chellie Cameron (Philadelphia, USA) Arnaud Feist (Brussels, Belgium) Pascal Komla (Lomé, Togo) Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid (Delhi, India) Hector Navarrete Muñoz (Merida, Mexico) Augustin de Romanet (Paris, France) Brian Ryks (Minneapolis-St Paul, USA) 2 Vacancies

WBP Advisory Board Thomas Duffy (ADB SAFEGATE) Tunde Oyekola (El-Mansur Atelier Group)