The P3 is increasingly the answer to non-aeronautical infrastructure needs at US airports

Over 600 airports operate within public-private partnership (PPP) principles, but where full airport leasing under concession is concerned, the US still trails the rest of the world with only two such current examples.

The US, however, continues to be a world leader in the application of such deals to individual projects within the airport estate, and especially in the case of consolidated car rental (ConRAC) facilities, which put all vehicle hire operations (which can be very extensive at a large US airport) under one roof.

The ConRAC at Los Angeles international Airport (LAX) is a good example, serving the country's fifth busiest airport and in the state where the private motor vehicle is far and away the premier method of travel.

A consortium of 13 organisations was responsible for building and operating the LAX ConRAC, and it is connected to other P3 projects there such as the under-construction 'People Mover', and the new airport Metro station.

Meanwhile numerous similar projects are under way or planned at other US airports.

While US airports remain almost exclusively under public sector control, the influence of the private sector in this arena is set to increase further.