Top 3 takeaways: Critical points for airports’ cargo infrastructure development

#3: Bringing everyone to the table

First and foremost, when considering what infrastructure developments to make, all panelists agreed that airports need to bring stakeholders to the table to learn about the actual needs of stakeholders’ customers and how best to meet those needs.

In the past, airports may have acted as a straight through for cargo moving in and out of airports. However, now as more airports seek to grow their cargo business through infrastructure development it is important to understand exactly what stakeholders’ customers need. This can range from perishable facilities to space for automated e-commerce sorting or room for live animal operations.

“Air cargo is one of the most liberal and free industries in the world, so you need to create an environment where cargo flows to you and not other airports or leaks to another transport mode, like shipping,” said Budapest Airport’s (BUD’s) head of cargo József Kossuth. “Therefore it is very important to adopt all the opinions [of your stakeholders] into your development strategy And the industry needs to focus much more on real collaboration and action.”

While BUD may have been a “cargo desert” in the past, it has since become one of the top airports rising in the industry through its strategy to attract carriers, ground handlers and freight forwarders with its new CargoCity.

Read more on BUD’s cargo strategy here.