Asia Airports – altering the business mindset to meet changing airline and passenger demands

The past few years have not been kind to large airports in Asia.  With regional lockdowns, a morass of COVID-19 travel requirements and stubbornly closed international borders, the recovery in the region has trailed behind the rest of the world.  

However, as lockdowns have ended and borders reopened passenger traffic in the region has started to return to more ‘normal’ volumes. In 2023 airports have enjoyed a steep rebound in traffic, with travellers eager to return to destinations that have been cut off to them in the past few years, or to explore new destinations. 

Recovery in the region has been far from uniform though. Domestic markets have generally performed well. The return of international travel in the region, though, has been much more uneven. As in the rest of the world, short haul and leisure travel has come back quickly, but intercontinental and business traffic has lagged well behind. 

A full return to pre-pandemic traffic volumes across the region is still a little way ahead. In the interim, the region will be a hotbed of aviation activity as connectivity is restored, networks are rebuilt, and new traveller preferences are catered to. 

Traveller demands and expectations of airports have also shifted. In response, airports have had to become more agile, embracing new systems that are personalised to the individual passenger, bringing on on-demand services, contactless journeys and other changes to the passenger experience. 

• What are the key challenges for airports across the region? 

• How has the demand for services – from airlines and travellers – changed since the start of the pandemic? 

• What are the priorities for airports with the ongoing shift to digitalisation? 

• What physical changes to airport spaces are occurring as airports re-define the passenger experience?