Airport Operations

The Airport Operations market is the entire ecosystem of all of the services and infrastructure that creates air travel, and it is recovering from a pandemic-induced decline in passenger traffic, digitizing operations, and responding to passenger experience demands. The global airport operations market is estimated to grow substantially over the coming years attributed to the rapid technological advancement and expansion plans of the airport industry. According to the Airports Council International, airports across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions are set for major expansion, with a total investment of US$240 billion planned between 2025 and 2035.

Our Airport Infrastructure analysis provides key insights into the physical and operational systems that underpin contemporary aviation. The airport systems market was worth USD 31.5 billion in 2024, which includes air traffic management, passenger processing, and terminal systems required for effective airport operations. The smart airport market is growing especially fast, and in 2024, non-aeronautical operations will represent over 70% of the airport systems market, as airports take advantage of AI to improve the movement of passengers, while also establishing carbon neutral infrastructure to achieve IATA's goal of net-zero aviation emissions by 2050.

In-flight Catering is opening up huge insights for a highly variable service industry space, which is valued at USD 10.9 billion in 2024, and projected at a CAGR of 7.8% until 2034, driven by increased service differentiation at a premium as well as customization around dietary needs. The much larger airport food service ecosystem includes quick-service restaurants at USD 36.8 billion (USD value in 2024, CAGR of 4.5%), also pushing expectations of the rank and file commercial passenger for better food while they travel. Various supporting infrastructure components (for example passenger boarding bridges = $2.12 billion (7% CAGR) Kiosk systems = $2.3 billion (9.6% CAGR) Logistics Systems = $4.5 billion (8.5% CAGR) suggest a full focus on modernization in the sector towards supporting seamless passage journeys with automatic processes that allow for consistent service at every possible touch point.