News Backgrounder
Running behind
The Asia-Pacific leads the world in airport expansion but the building program can’t keep up with passenger growth.
May 1st 2016
A new report has confirmed that the Asia-Pacific continues to lead the world in airport construction and development. Timetric’s Construction Intelligence Center (CIC) Global Airports Construction Projects study revealed increased investment in new or expanded airports was climbing in the region despite the economic uncertainty of recent years. Read More »
China is the biggest spender in the Asia-Pacific with plans to invest $47.8 billion in airport construction. It is followed by Vietnam, which has projects valued at $28.7 billion on the drawing board or under construction.
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| Istanbul New Airport: Turkey is building the world’s biggest airport that will rival its Gulf neighbours |
The expanding Mainland domestic market has made Beijing Capital International Airport the second busiest in the world. Its second airport, scheduled for completion in 2025, is the $11.3 billion Beijing Daxing International Airport.
The report said India is a high growth nation, but the value of airport projects was low compared with China, Hong Kong and Vietnam.
The biggest airport project in the world is Turkey’s Istanbul New Airport. It is intended to make the Turkish city a major global hub and a match for the Gulf’s airports. It is estimated it will have cost $36.2 billion when it is fully completed in 2028.
The first phase, to be finished next year, will be the world’s largest terminal under one roof, with a gross floor area of nearly 11 million square feet and a capacity to process 90 million passengers a year. When completed, the airport will have six runways and the ability to handle 200 million passengers annually.
Airports have average annual passenger growth of 5%, with construction activity at its highest in the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. “The first two regions outpace investment elsewhere with airport mega-projects of $224.1 billion and $172 billion, respectively.” CIC said the value of airport construction projects worldwide was $638.7 billion.
Manager at Timetric CIC, Neil Martin, said in the developed markets of North America and Europe, airport investment is largely being made in the expansion or renovation of existing airports such as London’s Heathrow and O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.
South and Central America are lagging the world in airport infrastructure projects, but there is huge potential for upgrading facilities. The new $14 billion Mexico City project potentially provides a model for Latin America, the report said.
