Airport World - Klaas Boersma & Aniek Toet
25 March 2024
Amsterdam Schiphol’s Klaas Boersma and multimodal researcher, Aniek Toet, reflect on the importance of a shared vision when it comes to embracing multimodality at the world’s airports.
I am obviously biased, but the journey airports have made over the last 50 years to become key social and economic generators, synonymous with global trade and connectivity, still amazes me.
They are prestigious and ambitious, they compete on a global scale, are scrutinised and loved, and, for most of us, the starting point for some of our greatest adventures as they connect us with the rest of the world.
As we all know, airports are more than just about accommodating air traffic movements or a seamless passenger flow through the terminals. Airport have a role to play on all levels of scale. At Amsterdam Schiphol, we aim to facilitate connectivity on all levels of scale, from wide-body intercontinental aircraft to cycle lanes and pedestrian zones.
This perspective is not necessarily new, although I dare venture to claim that airport operators and owners tend to lean more towards the aircraft side than the other modalities. What is new, in my opinion, is that the distinction between modalities and levels of scale is fading, and there is an increased integration of different forms of transport.
Arguably, two major trends are reshaping the way airports should develop – the growing demand for sustainable solutions; and the enormous pace of digitisation...
[Read more: The future is multimodal – Airport World (airport-world.com)]
