Simple Flying - Sumit Singh
From fuel to health, the aviation industry continues to deal with various crises. Could airport cities be a long-term answer?
Simple Flying caught up with Robin van Puyenbroeck, Executive Director of the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA), to find out more about these prospects.
The airport city model is an integrated model where the airport is not just a functional place of transit to bring people from Point A to Point B, but a place where things actually happen. An airport city model incorporates on-site offices, conference facilities, hotels, retail, and even health and childcare services. These smart airports also use technology to simplify and improve services for business and tourist travelers alike.
The WTCA looks at this phenomenon from a perspective of where trade can actually happen. Airport city models integrate commerce with the functionality of a traditional airport. Like the ideal World Trade Center, the WTCA believes an airport city can become a beehive of economic activity integrated into a global network of trade-related services.
The airport city initiative embraces recent transformations in spaces such as e-commerce. We've seen the likes of Amazon cultivate local communities to create a robust supply chain. Other industries such as travel retail and F&B have also changed in recent times. So, airport cities can reimagine the experience in the long term.
