Airport Profile: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta
Special Report: Aerotropolis Atlanta
Plus: Airport Lounges; Experience Enhancing Retail/F&B; Multimedia Innovation & Sustainability
Pride and prejudice
Editor, Joe Bates, reflects on the timing of the ‘turbulent times’ feature in our last issue and the ‘planning & design’ theme of this edition of Airport World.
I take no pleasure in saying it, but the ‘turbulent times’ feature about the impact of global conflicts on aviation in our last issue proved eerily timely due to ongoing events in the Middle East and no end in sight to the Ukraine-Russia war.
From an aviation perspective, some airlines suspended, re-routed or reduced flights to the Middle East at the outbreak of the Israel-Iran conflict, and more joined them after the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and Iran’s counter-attack on the US’s Al Udeid airbase in Qatar.
The fast escalating situation even led to two of the region’s biggest hubs, Qatar’s Hamad International Airport (DOH) and the UAE’s Dubai International Airport (DXB) briefly halting or “pausing” operations on June 23 before quickly re-opening.
At the time of writing (June 25), a ceasefire is in place between Israel and Iran, which appears to be holding after a rocky start, and has eased tensions in the region. However, we all know that it wouldn’t take a lot to ignite the already volatile situation again. Let’s hope that common sense prevails from all sides and that it will shortly be one less conflict for the world to worry about.
On a more positive note, for much of the world – including most of the Middle East region’s biggest hubs – passenger numbers continue to rise and, in some cases, exceed pre-COVID levels, leaving airport operators in no doubt about the need to invest in upgrading their facilities to ensure that they are capable of meeting future demand.
These projects range from enhancing airfields and refurbishing, modernising or expanding existing facilities to building new state-of-the-art terminals or greenfield airports such as Western Sydney International Airport (WSI) in Australia, Long Thanh International Airport in Vietnam, or Noida International Airport (DXN) in India.
We cover Western Sydney and Long Thanh airports in our comprehensive round-up of some of the biggest and boldest airport development projects on the planet in the ‘planning & design’ themed section of this issue of Airport World.
The section also includes features about Aerotropolis Atlanta Alliance and Aerotropolis Atlanta; New York-JFK’s new Terminal 6; new airport hotels that include recently opened dog lodgings at Rome Fiumicino Airport; and how early alignment and relationship building can transform aviation infrastructure projects in the United States.
Elsewhere in the issue our lead feature is on Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest gateway.
The issue also contains articles about the growing impact lounges are having on the airport experience; story-telling digital art; experiential retail; and the potential of a more collaborative and integrated approach to sustainability at UK airports.
We round the issue out with our regular ‘people matters’ column and the latest airport supplier news in our ‘business exchange’ section.
I hope you agree that it’s another cracking edition of your favourite airport magazine!