ACI Europe and the airport ‘investment gap’

ACI Europe has followed its North American counterpart in highlighting the "lack of investment" in airports in Europe, especially from the private sector, and on how that impacts on the 'decarbonisation' of airports.

This appears to be a response to the growing tide of our-environment anti-flight movements, which have the capacity to impact heavily on transport choices in the future.

But is there really a lack of investment on that continent? To what extent should investors - public or private - be expected to finance environmental protection around airports, which are public spaces used by a wide variety of traffic?

Should they be expected to forego profitable enterprises such as car parking and make provision instead for alternative travel modes that legislators wish to see replace them? And in any case, can anyone be certain that the growth in travel is going to continue unabated? These all form part of the complex framework around growing awareness of the need to take action to slow the rate of aviation emissions.