Airports in crisis: Measures to respond to and recover from COVID-19
“The forecasted losses for the airport industry in 2020 are estimated to be more than 76 billion USD resulting from the significant decline of passenger numbers and cancellation of flights (…) and the COVID-19 consequences the air transport sector is confronted with today are truly unprecedented”, said Dr. Fang Liu, ICAO’s Secretary General, in the International Airport Review in March 2020.
Airports experience the burden of the crisis roiling the aviation industry first-hand, through fewer aircraft movements and passengers and thus collapsing aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenues. The COVID-19 situation is leading to significant financial constraints and has put pressure on airports to take immediate measures to reduce capital and operational costs. In addition, the situation demands a comprehensive plan of action to respond during the current crisis and to ensure strong recovery after traffic resumes.
To come back stronger, the time for action is now!
In this article, Consultant Sascha Vogel lays out several measures airports can take to conquer the crisis, ranging from cost reductions to new revenue sources and airline incentives, and from requesting financial support to ensuring operational readiness in the case of insolvency of system partners. Moreover, airport operators need to take control of the situation by updating their crisis centers for data-driven decision making. These enable an airport to adopt the right strategic positioning to transform from crisis mode to proactive airport management.
Read the full Lufthansa Consulting article published by ACI Africa in the Covid 19 section: Best Practices, Guidelines and Analysis from ACI Africa partners.