In an exclusive interview with Southeast Asia Infrastructure magazine, Shantanu Gangakhedhar, Senior Consultant & Airports Lead at Frost & Sullivan, shared insights into the evolving dynamics of airport infrastructure development, highlighting the challenges of balancing capacity expansion with sustainability and passenger experience. He discussed the growing role of digital transformation, including AI and biometrics, in enhancing airport operations, as well as strategies for optimizing revenue streams in a fluctuating air travel market. Additionally, he examined the importance of multimodal connectivity, the structuring of public-private partnerships (PPPs), and best practices for future-proofing airports against regulatory and environmental challenges. He will also participate in Inter Airport Southeast Asia (IASEA) 2025. Excerpts…

  • Given the evolving dynamics of air travel, how should airport operators balance capacity expansion with sustainability and passenger experience?

It is very tricky to balance growth, sustainability, and passenger experience. Airports are constantly looking at growth, be it an increase in throughput routes served or airlines serviced. The way growth and passenger experience can be managed is through planning for the growth by taking into consideration multiple aspects, including infrastructural requirements, workforce requirements, and equipment requirements and identifying and deploying solutions for each to align with the growth. This will help keep the passenger experience in check by maintaining turn-around times and avoiding unnecessary delays and congestion. Automation can play a huge role here, where deploying innovative solutions can support airports in addressing growth without having to spend on large infrastructure expansion. To maintain a balance between sustainability with growth airports need to identify emission sources across Scope 1, 2 and 3, measure and then accordingly deploy solutions to reduce those emissions. For instance, with growing traffic, emissions from aircraft movement on the ground and GSE tend to increase so deploying solutions like sustainable GSE or electric taxing for aircraft can reduce emissions without impacting growth.

  • What are the key trends shaping the future of airport infrastructure investments, particularly in emerging markets?

Airports are looking at becoming agile and resilient, and for this, airport operators are looking at having modular infrastructure where the usage can be modified in real-time based on demand so that operational costs are minimized in parallel with the demand. Airports are also looking at ways to make the airports more sustainable through the use of sustainable building materials as well as making the design of the airport that can aid in reducing, generating, and storing energy.

  • With air traffic demand fluctuating post-pandemic, how can airports optimise revenue streams while maintaining efficiency?

Airports need to be agile in a way that has the ability to quickly and easily adapt to changing demands to reduce operating costs. This can be done through optimizing resource allocation throughout the airport as well as making airport space adapt to other requirements that can generate cash in times of reduced demand.

  • Digital transformation is reshaping the aviation industry. How do you see technologies like AI and biometrics enhancing airport operations?

One of the key usages of AI in airport operations will be building advanced Digital Twin solutions that enable airport operators to monitor the entire airport in real-time as well as run multiple scenarios to select the one that is the best while avoiding any downtime and interference in operations. Biometrics will be increase used to speed up passenger processing by reducing human touch points across the passenger value chain including security, immigration and boarding. This will support airports to manage the increasing growth without impacting passenger experience.

  • Many airports are embracing a more integrated multimodal transport approach. What strategies can ensure seamless connectivity between air, rail, and road networks?

Many large hub airports are looking at ways to integrate with intermodal networks be it for cargo or for passengers. To support seamless connectivity, data transfer and integration between the different modes is crucial. This will require multiple stakeholder collaboration and be available on a single platform with a common nodal point where the process can be monitored and decisions can made collaboratively in real time. This will not only involve tracking and monitoring passenger changeover from one mode to another but also the transfer of luggage. The integration needs to include from the time of booking of tickets to the time of arriving at the destination.

  • How can public-private partnerships (PPPs) be better structured to enhance airport infrastructure development in regions with funding constraints?

In many cases of PPP, there are multiple stakeholders where one owns the airport, one builds the airport and one operates the airport, but with increased stakeholders comes difficulty in decision making which delays processes and impacts growth. For PPP to work efficiently roles and responsibilities need to be clearly defined while the decision matrix is accepted and enforced by all parties involved

  • Having worked closely with various airport operators, what are the most effective strategies to future-proof airports against evolving regulatory, environmental, and market challenges?

As the industry nears the net-zero 2050 goal, airports need to deploy a robust master plan which will specifically involve sustainability as one of the key aspects. This master plan should clearly lay out goals with specific milestones. This will allow the wider industry such as technology suppliers to support in developing, testing and deploying solutions to address the airport’s requirements.

  • From your experience, what are the most significant lessons Asian airports can learn from global hubs regarding passenger experience, technology adoption, and operational efficiency?

Passenger dynamics are changing, and passenger demographics are changing, and adapting to this is critical to increased passenger satisfaction. Leveraging technology such as AR/VR to enhance shopping experience at airports, leveraging Big Data to improve F&B services, using AI to speed up security and automation to enhance check-in and boarding process. Many airports are engaging in partnerships with technology suppliers to co-develop solutions and act as test beds for these innovative solutions, enabling the industry to develop and deploy solutions while achieving their own growth.

 

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