Connections: Challenge of the future

摘要

Facilitating flight connections (especially inter-sector connections) is a major issue facing airports today. Airline competitiveness is greatly increased by hub operations, and any gateway airport that is growing is likely seeing a greater portion of its traffic moving to inter-sector connections. But facilitating these connections has a profound impact on the operation of a passenger building and many passenger buildings are not well suited to making them easy and intuitive. New inter-sector connection facilities present airports with many challenges, and the solutions are typically expensive. They often require a reassessment of the strategic development plans of the airport along with the application of deep experience and creativity. This paper reviews a range of typical situations and workarounds, specifically in light of the growth in the number of US preclearance facilities around the world, and concludes that, while there really are no quick and easy solutions, the best approach is to plan for inter-sector connections well in advance.