Half of airport leaders worry about their financial stability despite bounce back of the aviation industry

05.12.2023 - 08:41 / traveldailynews.com / Theodore Koumelis

48% of airports’ revenue has not recovered to that from before the pandemic. 52% of airports haven’t been able to restore all routes served before the pandemic.

UK – A new report from AeroCloud, the intelligent airport management platform that improves collaboration and operational efficiencies, reveals that despite passenger demand rising to near pre-pandemic levels, 52% of airport leaders are still worried about their financial stability, with 37% reporting that they are still in debt.  

New research of 200 airport leaders, outlined in the Getting on the Runway to Growthreport, has revealed 48% still haven’t seen their revenues recover since the slowdown caused by the pandemic. Growth is understandably front of mind for airport leaders, with the report finding their joint top-rated commercial priorities as increasing growth margins and optimising and increasing capacity for take-off and landing slots (both 92%). 

However, airports face a number of hurdles in achieving this growth: 

George Richardson, CEO and co-founder, AeroCloud,said: “The overall outlook for the aviation industry is strong after what has been a difficult few years. But not all airports are benefiting from this bounce back yet. Many are still struggling with the impact of staffing issues and flight disruption on their operations, as well as their ability to boost their revenue. While every airport has its unique challenges and opportunities, our research found airport leaders have common strategies in how they plan to boost their growth in the year ahead.” 

Airport leaders identified four areas where they see opportunities to boost their growth: 

George Richardson continued, “Many airports are still relying on legacy systems and technologies. This hugely reduces their efficiency in managing existing assets which impacts their capacity to introduce new airlines, as well as optimise passenger experience by giving them more time in the concessionary areas.  

“In fact, 40% of airport leaders told us they are still using Excel and Word documents to store and manage operational information, such as for gate management and the RONs (Remain Overnights). The reliance on manual processes and legacy systems presents massive hurdles to their revenue growth. Airports must look to the future to secure the next stage of their growth by embracing the benefits of artificial intelligence, computer vision and the cloud.” 

Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.