Routes and Airports Channel

Airports need to focus on service, revenue enhancement

By Sandra Arnoult
ATW's Airports Today, October, 2009, p.7

Airports have to focus on customer service along with revenue diversification and future growth if they hope to remain competitive at a time when airlines are reducing capacity, Airports Council International DG Angela Gittens told representatives at the Airport Business and Trinity Forum in Macau in late September.

"We must maintain our facilities and our staffing, even if traffic drops noticeably," Gittens said. "And with increasing competition as airlines go airport shopping, it is difficult to avoid subsidizing airline operations. We can no longer rely on airline charges to ensure the ongoing maintenance and enhancement work required to keep our airports safe and efficient."

She noted that airports have seen some stabilization in traffic since June and that ACI is forecasting the "return of solid growth."

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