In recent years, there has been a shift across Canada towards what people are calling an “Aerotropolis”. This refers to airports that resemble more of a small city, rather than just runways and a seating area. Starting the movement, Pearson International Airport (Toronto) unveiled in June their newest addition: an 80,000 square foot pier with retail shops and pubs. Following suit, Vancouver International Airport is also building a designer shopping centre, but will be close to 400,000 square feet with the newest expansion. Furthermore, Montreal is renovating their runaway, while Calgary undergoes a $2 billion renovation with emphasis on a new baggage handling system which is capable of tracking a single bag anywhere in the airport.
If this expansion continues, and I believe it will, we will begin to see an entire transformation in the travel industry with airports. Pretty soon, it will become a point of parity (PoP) for airports to resemble small cities. When this happens, it will be extremely difficult for airports to have a real solid point of difference (PoD). However, in the airport transportation industry, it may be irrelevant to talk about PoD’s due to the decision making process of the consumer. Most people don’t pick what cities or airports they want to stop at during travel, they pick the flights that are the cheapest and/or most direct. Either way, we are looking upon the entrance of the airport revolution, and when we exit the other side, we just may all be living in an aerotropolis.