We engage innovative industry partners, including industry innovators airportr.com and logistic consultant AIQ. Urban Turbine investigates the expansion of the pick-up from home concept, removing the baggage operation away from the passenger terminal via multiple injection points connected to highly efficient baggage fulfilment centres. There is currently no management of baggage flow between the airport and the city, yet there are logistic networks galore.

Passengers and baggage move to the passenger terminal and cargo to the respective cargo terminal, where the processing takes place. The goal is to thoroughly analyse the flow and processes involved and to identify ideal locations for each part of the process. This review reveals available infrastructure of the city, airport and region before redesigning flows and procedures.

Increasing passenger volumes forces airports to de-congest the airside environment and shift terminal functionality to landside. Urban Turbine investigates new concepts for terminal operation including automisation of terminal processes, more efficient integration of airport and aircraft and the possibility of detachable passenger cabins as a means to reduce turnaround times.

By liberating the passenger from his baggage the use of public transport will be encouraged.

As next stage the baggage home-pick-up will be replicated on the arrivals side delivering the baggage directly to the destination.

Ultimately baggage will be travelling independently and as an individual ‘passenger’ by the most economic and sustainable means.

Airports for a long time have depended on non-aviation revenues. Whilst car parking and airside retail have traditionally made strong contributions,  forward looking airports have also been identifying other income streams. Munich’s Airport Centre [MAC] for example with its own brewery invites the local neighbourhood as it provides space for the unexpected delay of aircraft especially in snow-rich South Germany.

Salzburg is dedicating its Terminal 2 to trade exhibitions and events in the non-winter season and Dresden transforms its passenger terminal, a former aircraft hangar into a multi-stage concert hall celebrating the Dresden Airport Night.

The challenge of making better use of the airport infrastructure – optimising the excessive land-taking airside, terminals and airport landside will dominate the airport industry in the coming decades in order to provide urgently needed capacity and gain competitive advantage.

When Paul Griffith, CEO of Dubai Airport suggests dropping landing charges in return for a fair share in the in-flight retail revenue [link to quote], one can understand the complexity of changes to be expected. Quickly improving terminal processes by the use of biometric technology will shorten passengers dwell-time at the airport.

Since flight times between destinations will not shorten dramatically in the short term this will shift the balance towards the airlines entertaining passengers on board rather than the airport in terrestrial lounges and malls.

And there are new transport systems entering medium and potentially long-distance travel. Airports will be able to see this as a chance or competition. In any case, environmental constraints to emissions and lack of additionally needed runway capacity will force airports to integrate high speed railway, Hyperloop and eVTOL into a coordinated infrastructure – formidable challenges to the physical infrastructure with consequences for the Airport business model.

There are many trends in other industries, including radical changes of the office world. New typologies, co-working, better connectivity between work-live and travel will impact onto the way airports will work in the future – or better create opportunities for airports to position themselves in the value chain and benefit from new business opportunities.

Airports enabling connectivity, providing for airports to connect people – this is the future and Urban Turbine isto engage and support airports, municipalities and airlines in establishing the vision of airports and strategies to get there.