Airports in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East are on course for a significant transformation of their infrastructure at a total cost of US$240 billion, Airports Council International Asia-Pacific & Middle East (ACI APAC & MID) declared on Wednesday.
Of the total investment, $136 billion will be spent on Brownfield Development, targeting the modernisation and enlargement of existing airports. In contrast, $104 billion will be spent on Greenfield Development, where new airport facilities are to be built from scratch.
This huge capital investment mirrors the regions' strategic initiatives to address the fast-rising demand for passenger and cargo air transport. Brownfield developments will increase capacity by an additional 680 million passengers and 14 million tonnes of freight. Concurrently, Greenfield developments will cater to new infrastructure with the capacity to handle 562 million passengers and 57 million tonnes of freight.
SGK Kishore, President of ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East, emphasised the broader impact of the initiative, stating, “The $240 billion investment is not just about creating concrete and runways, it’s about socio-economic development in the region.”
The combined investment will lead to capacity growth to handle an additional 1.24 billion passengers—similar to the construction of more than 13 airports the size of Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest international airport now. On the cargo side, the increased capacity of 71 million tonnes is close to 14 times Hong Kong International Airport, the world's top cargo hub, at present.
This significant upgrade comes in order to prepare airports in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East to handle future expansion in the aviation industry.
“The investment will create additional capacity in the medium-to-long-term,” added StefanoBaronci, Director General of ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East.