Benchmarking airport reconstruction projects

Abstract

The impact of redevelopment and expansion of airport operations has not received much attention in the literature. Data were collected for 22 North American airports, 26 airport projects, and 107 individual operational years (airport years) with at least 3.5 million passengers annually. Each airport undertook at least one brownfield passenger terminal project between 1991 and 2001. The study shows that some factors, such as traffic volume, air traffic movements, and cargo, may indicate impacts of airport redevelopment. It was also found that the strategic use of space is critical to operational efficiency, especially with the full range of non-aeronautical services that can be offered at airports. The cost of space may be higher, but it tended to improve overall efficiency. Reconstruction projects that were evaluated as successful tended to show operational recovery within 2 years of construction completion; this result was consistent through a wide range of project sizes, traffic levels, and services.Key words: airport terminal reconstruction, benchmarking, reconstruction impacts, airport performance measures, data envelopment analysis.