Strategic Airport Planning and Development

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 1
STRATEGIC AIRPORT PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
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PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 2
Introduction
An airport is an integral piece of the transport network of any country. It is one of the largest
infrastructures that a nation can invest in. It is the most convenient means of transportation
across borders, provides relative speed and efficiency with regards to valued goods and persons.
It also delivers an opportunity to cities and countries to offer employment to persons both airside
and landside. Air travel also provides revenue to governments that help further governance and
environmental improvement. This study aims to provide a comparative analysis of two airports
to provide an appropriate bearing for the reader to make a self-assessment on the right policies to
make for better customer response (Halpern & Graham, 2013). For this case study, the airports of
choice will be the Heathrow airport in London UK, and John F. Kennedy airport in New York,
USA. The two airports are the busiest in their countries, rank as number 2 and 55 respectively,
and provide airline services in destinations within the six continents worldwide. They are also
offered landing and takeoff platforms for similar airline companies such as British airlines. As of
2018, Heathrow airport handled a total of 80.1 million passengers and 477,604 aircraft. John F.
Kennedy airport achieved a load of 59 million passengers in 2017, and more than ninety airlines
operated from the airport.
Ownership structure
The ownership structure is referred to as the distribution of equity concerning capital but also by
equity owners’ identity. The owner structure which most of the airports all over the world fall
into is the public and private liability company.
Heathrow airport is owned and operated by the Heathrow Airport holdings. They are, in turn,
owned by FGP TopCc limited. They are considered one of the pioneers of airport privatization;

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however, they stopped trading their stocks on the market when a takeover was carried out in
2006. The airport is under the management of an international consortium, led by Ferrovial.
They have several partners such as Qatar Holdings LLC and GIC private limited. It is a
conglomerate of individual holdings that maintain the airport as an independent entity. It is the
second busiest airport in the world after Dubai international airport. The government in 2017
established a separate airport's commission to assess various options for the increasing activities
at the airports. The airport receives relative support from the British government in a bid to steer
development adaptively. The aim is to provide alternatives to curb the increasing passenger
numbers arriving at the airport. Air alliances manage terminals. Terminal 2 hosts star
memberships except for Air India, which is in terminal 4 (Halpern & Graham, 2013).
The John F. Kennedy airport is located in Queens, New York. The airport has six terminals and
four runways, and it is the 22nd busiest airport in the world. The airport is under the Port's
authority of New York and New Jersey. The airport has six terminals that are maintained by
major airlines that operate within the terminals. The ports authority initially allocated the
significant airlines, during its inception, the space to develop their terminals. It created an
environment of competition and development was mainly steered by necessity. The airport's
terminals are currently maintained by airlines such as JetBlue. The oversight and navigation
policies are drafted and tabled by the Port's authority. The airport facilitates oversight, budgeting,
and approval of any developments therein. They partner with airlines in the hope of curtailing
costs and meeting planned objectives.
Heathrow airport has a private system of management, this provides each shareholder a
particular stake in the establishment, and thus voting power varies among partners. It means that
each member has a voting share based on the percentage of their own. John F. Kennedy airport is

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different regarding that the Port's authority facilitates every decision. The airport's budgets,
repairs, and developments are all approved by the airport's authority. It makes development more
generalized into other infrastructure that is within the area. Such include roads and subway
systems. The result is a slow and gradual development process.
Heathrow Airport was initiated in the year 1929 as a small airfield on the Heathrow southeast
and at this time the airport gains this name. The whole of Heathrow development was developed
in the year 1944 where the large airport was established. This airport was developed by the
government as a civil airport.
In comparison to other airports such as Dubai and Heathrow, the airports steer projects more
efficiently in contrast to JFK due to the leadership structure. They offer a better, more
competitive customer experience with better shopping experiences, well-structured wait rooms,
and better food choices. Passenger experience is on the general, pleasant in comparison to John
F. Kennedy airport. Also, this airport gains popularity and it was a very reliable airport at those
times.
Terminal buildings
An airport terminal is referred to as a building where the passengers transfer between the ground
transportation and facilities that permit them to board or onboard an aircraft. Within the terminal
building, the passengers will purchase the tickets, then transfer their luggage and then go for
security checkup. Thus the terminal building is very crucial for any airport.
Heathrow airport currently has four terminals in operation. Terminals two, three, four, and five.
Terminal one was closed to facilitate the expansion of terminal 2. Terminal 2 is assigned to star
airlines and few non-aligned airlines. Terminal 3 is used by airlines such as Oneworld, Malaysia
airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Delta Airlines, and middle eastern airlines. Terminal 4 accommodates