Air Transport, the Real Competition Is Through Airports
The development of air transport is measured by its growth in the number of passengers, it will reach 5 billion in 2026 and in turnover, it will be close to 1,000 billion dollars in 2025 and will exceed it in. Let’s keep in mind the continuous increase in volume and revenue of the sector of activity even if the economic results of airlines are not always there. But, since the end of Covid, the situation has improved. In fact, growth is driven by the arrival of more efficient aircraft, which allows a drop in prices sharpened by a race for the most efficient display in the very large distributors on the Internet.
However, this observation does not take into account the major role of airports. A carrier is obviously dependent on the quality of its main platform. In a third of a century, the organization of networks has changed considerably. American Airlines launched the “hub” concept in the early 1980s and given the success of this modus operandi, all the other major operators followed the model. However, it was necessary to have the appropriate infrastructure. A “hub” requires a particular architecture and large platforms have not come up to date, I am thinking in particular of JFK in New York, whose terminals were very difficult to transform and whose rank in the ranking of airports has continued to decline.
On the other hand, it has enabled new airports, which had the necessary space and sufficient capital to create efficient infrastructures from scratch, to support their based airlines. This is what happened in the Gulf. Dubai first, then Abu Dhabi and Doha have provided their based airlines with particularly efficient terminals and these have proven to be essential for the development of their carriers, whether they are Emirates, Qatar Airways or Etihad Airways. European and American companies have also complained, including in court, about the considerable advantages enjoyed by Gulf companies. The real support came not from any financial contribution, but from the provision by their governments of an incomparable tool of exploitation.
Europeans have had a much harder time keeping up with this competition. Space is limited, administrative constraints and appeals against extensions have multiplied, and let’s face it, governments have not provided the necessary impetus. All in all, Europe is losing the eminent position that this continent had to the benefit of Asia, which is equipping itself at a forced march, and the Gulf, which maintains a significant lead in airport equipment.
Because it must be seen that, at least as far as short and medium-haul flights are concerned, customers spend more time in airports than on board aircraft. And the airport journey is not like a walk in the park. This starts with access to terminals with sometimes faulty signage and inefficient rail land links. It was not until 2025 that an airport like Orly was served by a direct metro to Paris, even though it handles more than 30 million passengers. Access to Lisbon airport is saturated and the platform has to manage to accommodate 36 million customers with a single runway and a completely outdated terminal.
In short, once in the terminal, the difficulties and opportunities for stress accumulate. Under the pretext, no doubt real, of safety, the constraints imposed on passengers have been multiplied. The PIFs (Screening Inspection Stations) are still as restrictive and inconsistent in their treatment from one terminal to another in the same airport. The departure lounges have been designed, at least in the oldest airports, for average modules of 120 passengers, whereas the average carrying capacity must now be around 180 to 200. Boarding procedures, which depend on the operators, are deteriorating when they should be improving.
And then to make money, certainly useful for their investors, airports have systematically reserved larger spaces for shops, whose fees now feed at least 50% of the budget of a modern airport, to the detriment of the space that could be allocated to passengers. I pass over a number of other obstacles, each passenger knows them perfectly. The airport then becomes an essential factor in customer choice. How many of them, at least in Europe, choose the fast train for reasons of ease of access to their seats? How are the constraints imposed on air customers justified in relation to the surface track?
The best airport in the world is in Singapore or Doha depending on the year, at least in Asia. European and American platforms are far behind in the rankings. It’s a shame.
