Airports are dynamic infrastructure assets and organisations, which are subject to constant change as a result of increasing traffic, ownership changes, environmental, economic, safety and technological changes. Customers (airlines, passengers and freight organisations) and stakeholders (government, community) also put pressure on airports to change.

This book examines the pressures to change faced by airports of different sizes, from small community airports to intercontinental mega-hubs, and will help readers to understand and anticipate the changes which will happen at airports with which they are involved. The objective of this book is to look at the broad value chain of airports and the roles of the various players within the value chain, examining how airports can manage their staff, stakeholders and customers, the ways in which governance and staffing models can be evolved to cope with the emerging challenges faced by the industry, and risks faced by airports, together with mitigation approaches. Each chapter ends with a series of questions which can be applied when considering a specific airport. The key target users of those questions are board members and investors, who need to grill management to ensure that they fully understand and appreciate the airport under consideration, but the questions will also be useful prompts for any reader of the book.

This book has, therefore, been written for the person who is starting to work in or for the airport industry – as an airport employee, a board member, a regulator, a supplier of equipment or services to airports, an investor in airports, anyone engaged in non-aviation work such as airport retail or property development, or an airline staff member who has to deal with airports as a user.