“Airports are changing, from pure infrastructure providers dependent on public finances to today's diversified and complex businesses, increasingly independent and self-financed, also setting the agenda for local economies and communities.”

Dr. Yiannis Paraschis, Athens International Airport CEO and president of ACI-Europe (March 2009)

GHK has advised a wide variety of airports from the largest hubs (e.g. Hong Kong, Gatwick, Toronto) to small regional facilities (e.g. Zhuhai, Humberside, Vernon) as they move through some of these changes, seeking to chart a path through often turbulent times. In all instances we have worked closely with our clients to meet their specific needs, be it traffic forecasting, master-planning, competitiveness strategies or airport city development.

A recurring challenge has been to maximise the efficiency of existing assets, whilst securing timely and appropriate provision of new infrastructure to enhance competitiveness. The dynamic environment within which many of our clients operate, places a premium on robust forecasting that goes beyond purely trend based approaches. Likewise, in our approach to master planning, we consider both “soft” and “hard” infrastructure and seek to maintain as much flexibility as possible in land-use allocation to satisfy demand and changes in market direction, whilst also safeguarding long-term land use.