Small airports
The current airport concept may change by 2050, with a shift towards smaller, better distributed airports on the territory to increase capillarity and ease passengers’ movements.
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The current airport concept may change by 2050, with a shift towards smaller, better distributed airports on the territory to increase capillarity and ease passengers’ movements.
Sustainability is a key goal also for airports. By 2050, these are expected to be energy autonomous and to mostly manage full-electric and hybrid electric vehicles, limiting the number of fuel flights.
Aircraft movements inside the airport are expected to be highly automised. Taxiing systems may be fully automated and faster rotation of aircraft is expected.
The whole transport service is expected to become more and more user-centric, highly personalised, multimodal and integrated. By 2050, baggage checks, check-ins, and security control are envisaged to be fully automated, moved away from the airport and done at the start of the journey in the city environment. Passenger-centric biometric systems are expected to be in place.
Inside the airports, the availability of robotic airport guides, digital touchpoints and self-guide apps is expected. Intelligent systems to manage the flow of passengers to and inside airports will be in place to ensure a smoother journey and prevent the risk of disease diffusion.
The transition to multimodal transportation and this new airport concept must consider societal concerns (e.g. privacy, security, impact on climate change, etc.). The involvement and empowerment of passengers in the design of the whole service is considered key to addressing these concerns and maximising benefits for the end-users.
Vanessa Arrigoni, Roberto Venditti, Matteo Cirillo, Simone Pozzi