aerotropolis update, no. 3, may 2016

Aerotropolis Update

No. 2, November 2015

By Rose Bridger

Aerotropolis Update No. 3, May 2016

By Rose Bridger

CONTENTS

Pages 1 - 4, INTRODUCTION

Pages 5 - 11, AFRICA

Angola - Luanda Airport, Egypt - Ras Sudr Airport, Nigeria - Ekiti, Makurdi, Morocco -

Benslimane Airport, Sierra Leone - Mamamah Airport, South Africa - Pietermaritzburg Airport,

Port Elizabeth Airport, Scottburgh Airport, Uganda - Kabaale Parish airport, Zambia - Ndola

Airport

Pages 11 - 23, ASIA

Australia - Cairns Airport, China - new Sanya airport, India - Delhi Airport, Dholera Airport, Konni

airport, Indonesia - Retail revenue, Juanda Airport, Kertajati Airport, Kazakhstan - New Almaty

Airport, Nepal - Nijgadh Airport, Pakistan - New Islamabad Airport, South Korea - Second Jeju

Airport, Turkey - Kas airport

Pages 23 - 30, EUROPE

Belarus - China-Belarus Industrial Park, Hungary - Budapest Airport, Malta - Malta Airport,

Russia - Domodedovo Aerotropolis, Sweden - Göteborg Landvetter Airport, UK - East Midlands

Airport, Gatwick Airport

Pages 30 - 31, LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN

Brazil - Brasilia Airport, Ecuador - Quito Airport

Pages 31 - 33, MIDDLE EAST

Iran - Imam Khomeini Airport, Iraq - Diwaniya Airport, Saudi Arabia - King Abdulaziz Airport,

Madinah Airport

Pages 33 - 34, NORTH AMERICA

US - Baton Rouge Airport, Benton Airport, Merrill Field Airport, Palm Beach Airport, Southwest

Florida Airport, Valley Airport, Watertown Airport

INTRODUCTION

What is an aerotropolis?

An aerotropolis, also known as an ‘airport city’ or ‘aerocity’, is an airport surrounded by

commercial and/or industrial development. These airport-centric projects are not, primarily,

settlements for people to live in. Some include substantial residential areas, but the emphasis is

on facilities to spur growth of international trade and tourism. Air passengers are funnelled

through hotels, shops, entertainment and cultural venues and offices on land around the

airport. Manufacturing, industrial and assembly plants, along with distribution and logistics

complexes, are integrated with the airport’s cargo facilities, enabling ever more dispersed global

supply chains. Aerotropolis-style development on the land surrounding the airport is designed

to be aviation dependent, prioritising and providing supporting infrastructure for facilities

which, in utilising air services, will support airport growth. As the urgency of reducing climate

damaging greenhouse gas emission becomes ever more evident aerotropolis projects threaten

to engender a disastrous increase.

The aerotropolis is a distinctive urban form and a global phenomenon. The earliest prominent

examples emerged around a few major airports, notably Schiphol, Munich and Frankfurt in

Europe, Dallas/Fort Worth in the US and Changi in Singapore in the 1990s, followed by Seoul’s

Incheon Airport and Kuala Lumpur Airport to the west of Malaysia’s capital. Over recent years

aerotropolis style development has become a mainstream planning trend worldwide. Currently,

important aerotropolis announcements, in particular by governments pertaining to land

allocation and financing, are made on practically a daily basis. This Update looks at aerotropolis

developments around 43 airports – operational, under construction and in the planning stages –

in 29 countries in all the world’s regions.

From a few hectares to over 100 square kilometres

The scale of aerotropolis projects varies widely. Small developments, typically adjoining a minor

airport, may cover a few hectares. The largest aerotropolis sites are over 100 square kilometres.

The enormity of major aerotropolis projects can be grasped by comparison with the land taken

up by the world’s busiest airport: Atlanta in the US, which handles more than 95 million

passengers annually, and tonnes of cargo. Atlanta Airport, which includes substantial

commercial development such as shopping malls and warehouses, covers a site of 1,518

hectares (just over 15 square kilometres).

Land areas allocated for major aerotropolis developments covered in this Update dwarf Atlanta

Airport. The Egyptian government recently increased the land area for Ras Sudr airport, and

airport city, to 3,226 hectares. In Indonesia, the West Java provincial government is paying for

clearing 1,800 hectares of land for Kertajati airport and ‘aerocity’, and allocation of an additional

3,200 hectares has been proposed. In East Java, the land allocation for expansion of Juanda

Airport and an airport city is 60 square kilometres. In Nepal, development of an airport at

Nijgadh is planned as the first stage of an aerotropolis, on 80 square kilometres of

predominantly forested land. China-Belarus Industrial Park, to the west of Minsk Airport, has

been allocated a 95.5 square kilometre site.

The total area of King Abdulaziz Airport, Saudi Arabia, is 115 square kilometres and the long

term plan for Iran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport is a 140 square kilometre airport city.

Domodedovo Aerotropolis, around Russia’s busiest airport situated southeast of Moscow, could

emerge as one of the world’s largest. More than 160 square kilometres of land have been

reserved for the airport and aerotropolis.

The airport expansion element of some major aerotropolis schemes aims to increase passenger

numbers to a level comparable with the world’s busiest airports. King Abdulaziz Airport intends

to more increase its passenger throughput fivefold, from 16 million to 80 million and expansion

of Imam Khomeini Airport aims to increase passenger numbers from the current 6.5 million to

90 million. Plans for Juanda Airport to become an airport city include two additional runways,

taking annual passenger capacity to 70 million.

Examples of cargo oriented aerotropolis projects around existing airports include Benslimane

Airport (Morocco), Budapest Airport (Hungary), East Midlands Airport (UK) and the China-

Belarus Industrial Park. Plans for cargo focussed aerotropolis developments around new airports

include Makurdi (Nigeria), Diwaniya, intended to become the largest cargo airport in Iraq and

the new Ndola airport in Zambia, a cargo airport to serve mining. In Uganda, a masterplan for an

airport in Hoima, the country’s oil hub has been completed. With a 3.1 kilometre runway, long

enough to handle heavyweight cargo planes, it would form the first stage of a 29 square

kilometre oil refinery, airport and industrial park.

Destruction of ecosystems and displacement of farming communities

Aerotropolis developers seek out greenfield (undeveloped) sites. Inevitably this threatens the

loss of vast areas of farmland, forests and other ecosystems. Two planned UK projects face

considerable community opposition: a business park on open green space, including farmland,

next to Gatwick Airport, and a warehousing and distribution hub adjoining East Midlands Airport

that would endanger 243 hectares of farmland and woodland. Over half of the 95.5 square

kilometre site of China-Belarus Industrial Park is forest. Offshore airport development, such as

additional Juanda Airport runways and airport city, and China’s new Sanya airport in Hongtang

Bay, would bring destruction of marine ecosystems though land reclamation.

This Update includes three instances of planned aerotropolis developments that are meeting

resistance from rural communities facing displacement. Hundreds have participated in protests

against a new airport, the starting point for an aerotropolis, on the South Korean island of Jeju,

a project that was announced without consulting affected communities. In Ndola, Zambia, 2,000

farmers protested over government plans to relocate them for a new airport. Bulldozing of 40

square kilometres of farmland for an airport in the agrarian state of Ekiti, Nigeria, began without

even warning farmers on the site. It is reported that ten of these farmers have died of shock.

Eviction of communities for the oil refinery and airport in Hoima, Uganda, began in 2012 and

many affected people were left living in appalling conditions after not receiving their rightful

compensation or resettlement.

Multi-lane highways and economic corridors

The land-take for an aerotropolis is magnified by the requisite surface transportation network.

Multilane highways are standard. A four-lane road, to be expanded to six-lanes, is planned to

link a new airport in Nijgadh, Nepal, with Kathmandu. Announcement of a second Jeju airport

was closely followed by plans for a high-speed rail or bus route linking the airport and ‘Air City’

with tourism and commercial centres including one of South Korea’s largest integrated resorts.

In many instances an aerotropolis in encompassed within, and integral to, an economic, logistics

or transportation ‘corridor’: a network of transportation and industrial infrastructure designed

to stimulate and re-shape the economy over a large area, often spanning national boundaries.

Dholera Airport is envisaged as a key node in a Dedicated Freight Corridor, which itself forms

the ‘spine’ of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), promoted as the world’s largest

megaproject. Both Sanya airport and the China-Belarus Industrial Park are part of China’s ‘One

Belt One Road’ project. This network of land, sea and air corridors connecting China with

Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe is one of the country’s most significant and far-reaching

initiatives for determining the future configuration of global trade.

Non-aeronautical revenue supports airport growth

The key to established major aerotropolis projects is that the airport owns the land upon which

the airport-linked development takes place. Prominent examples include Frankfurt Airport with

a 2,200 hectare site, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport with 73 square kilometres and Kuala Lumpur

Airport with 100 square kilometres. All operate under a specific economic model: ‘non-

aeronautical revenue’ from facilities on this land, operated by the airport and via concessions

and leases, cross-subsidises airport operations (reducing landing and navigation fees for airlines

to encourage them to use the airport) and expansion. The non-aeronautical revenue model

strengthens the symbiotic relationship between expansion of the airport and growth of the

development surrounding it. Stimulating economic activity in the host region is subordinate to

the primary goal of maximising revenue generation from airport property.

Announcements regarding a number of emerging aerotropolis projects covered in this Update

explicitly state that non-aeronautical revenue will be used to support airport growth: Cairns

(Australia), Quito (Ecuador), Imam Khomeini International Airport (Iran), King Abdulaziz and

Madinah (Saudi Arabia), Port Elizabeth (South Africa) and the planned new Ndola airport

(Zambia). A shopping mall is anticipated to yield considerable lease rental payments for the

operator of Delhi Airport, starting with a one-off payment of over US$37.5 million.

Destinations in their own right

Developers of passenger-oriented aerotropolis projects aspire to create ‘destinations in their

own right’, full-spectrum urban centres where passengers can shop, eat, stay in hotels, enjoy

cultural and entertainment activities and conduct business meetings. Even relatively minor

aerotropolis projects can offer a wide range of visitor attractions. For example, a 132 hectare

scheme at Brasilia Airport will contain 280 shops, 30 fast food outlets, 5 hotels, cinema, gym,

water park, convention centre, green space and a university. The ultimate form of all-inclusive

tourism is emerging; air travellers’ interaction with the host community beyond the aerotropolis

complex is minimised as they spend ever more time, and money, within a complex that is

effectively an extension of the airport.

In addition to being strategically situated to capture revenue from the flow of passengers,

aerotropolis development can be targeted at residents from surrounding areas. For example, a

shopping mall, one of the largest in India, to be built on land leased by the operator of Delhi

Airport, aims to attract residents from a wide catchment area. This is a model of development

that drains rather than boosts the economy of the wider region. Facilities within the

aerotropolis act in competition with businesses beyond the boundary.

A new generation of special economic zones

This Update includes several examples of aerotropolis projects that are linked with development

of ‘special economic zones’, designated areas where firms are granted preferential treatment to

reduce the costs of doing business, most notably tax breaks and provision of infrastructure

including transportation, power and water supply. Special economic zones which facilitate

international trade by lowering firms’ costs through exemption from customs duties are often

called ‘free trade zones’. Traditionally situated near airports and shipping ports, the new

generation of special economic zones that is emerging – part of, adjoining or linked to the

aerotropolis complex – will be more closely integrated with the airport’s cargo facilities and

surrounding logistics complexes and road/rail networks.

An ‘Innovation Special Economic Zone’ is being considered as part of the plans for Domodedovo

Aerotropolis. There are plans to designate an ‘Airport City’ area around a proposed second Jeju

airport as ‘special commercial zone’. In Angola, the new Luanda airport, currently under

construction, is strategically placed near Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone which boasts of

550,000 hectares available to businesses. Plans for development of China-Belarus Industrial Park

include various industrial zones and tax breaks are offered for a 20 year period from the

commencement of investment.

A free trade zone is already established at Quito Airport. The second phase of the planned

Diwaniya Airport is a free trade zone. A planned distribution complex next to East Midlands

Airport would benefit from a proposed Free Trade Zone around the airport, offering tax breaks

for businesses. The master plan for development of Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA)

includes a 2,500 hectare Special Economic Zone, which is also referred to as a ‘Free Trade Zone’.

Generous incentives for businesses locating in the zone include a 20 year tax exemption.

Economic enclaves

Every aerotropolis proclaims itself a ‘growth engine’ that galvanises the economy of the host

region, but small and medium-sized local enterprises are marginalised as development supports

growth of major international corporations: airlines, aircraft manufacturers, construction firms,

logistics firms, international tourism and hotel consortia and global retail chains selling global

brands. More accurately, airport cities are economic enclaves; the relationship with the wider

region, which provides land, surface transportation and other infrastructure and aviation

subsidies (most notably tax exemption on fuel for international flights), is essentially parasitic.

The non-aeronautical revenue model and overlap with special economic zones each serve to

bolster an airport city’s privileged status and segregation from the wider domestic economy.

Major aerotropolis schemes are among the largest, most expensive megaprojects being

imposed by governments and corporations. Vast government expenditure can spark

controversy and opposition. Examples in this Update are: Mamamah Airport in Sierra Leone,

one of the world’s poorest countries still recovering from an outbreak of the Ebola virus, New

Islamabad Airport which has been plagued by lengthy delays and cost escalation, and the

recently halted Ekiti airport project in Nigeria.

AFRICA

Angola

Luanda Airport – airport city plans and a total land area of 75.5 square kilometres

In October 2015 Angola’s President, José Eduardo dos Santos, visited the construction site of the

new Luanda airport, 40 kilometres southeast of the centre of the capital city. Works were

scheduled to be complete by 2017, at an estimated cost on US$3.8 billion, on a 1,324 hectare

site. The President was briefed on the project, including the aim to accommodate 15 million

passengers per year and ‘Airport City’ plans. It has been reported that the airport will have a

total area of 75.5 square kilometres, a scale that would make it a substantial aerotropolis.

Lunda-Bengo Special Economic Zone is described as ‘strategically located’ between the new

Luanda airport and expanding settlements. The Zone has 8,500 hectares of land available to

businesses. In addition, the Angolan government has set aside a large area of land for

agricultural activities, adding up to a total of 550,000 hectares available to businesses.

Egypt

Ras Sudr Airport – land area expanded by government

The Egyptian government has approved establishment of an airport, and associated airport city

and tourism projects, at Ras Sudr, a town on the Red Sea coast, and the Civil Aviation Ministry

estimates the investment cost at US$127.7 million. Egypt’s Civil Aviation Minister had stated

that the government had provided the plots of land required for the new airport, then in early

December 2015 he said that the government agreed to increase the land area to 7,681 feddans

(3,226 hectares) to serve the airport’s operations and future expansion.

Morocco

Benslimane Airport – greenfield land for aerotropolis

An ambitious aerotropolis - an industrial, economic and commercial centre - is planned around

Benslimane Airport, a predominantly cargo airport, near the Moroccan coast. A third runway is

also under consideration. Benslimane Airport was selected for aerotropolis development

because it has sufficient greenfield (undeveloped) land available. The project is anticipated to

progress quickly. The Minister of Equipment, Transportation and Logistics announced that

development work is scheduled to commence in 2016.

Nigeria

Ekiti Airport – land clearing began without warning, 10 farmers died of shock

As reported in GAAM Aerotropolis Update No. 2, the Ekiti state government began clearance of

4,000 hectares of farmland for an airport in October 2015, without even consulting residents of

the five affected villages – Igbemo, Igbogun, Aso Ayegunle, Ijan and Araromi Obbo. An oil palm

farmer whose plantation was bulldozed, Tijani Hakeem, died, reportedly of shock. In response

to widespread opposition Ekiti Governor, Ayo Fayose, who had prioritised the airport project

and insisted it must be fast-tracked, suspended work on the airport until December 2015,

promising to pay affected farmers compensation and time to harvest their crops. Ironically,

farmland was being destroyed for an airport to export farm produce. The Speaker of the Ekiti

State House of Assembly, Kola Oluwawole, described the planned airport as “a cargo airport…to

harness and ensure seamless exportation of agricultural produce”.

In December 2015 a group of affected farmers filed a suit, on behalf of farmers and landowners

in the four affected communities, seeking damages for ‘unlawful and forcible acquisition’ of

their land, destruction of farm buildings and removal of their crops. The legal action also sought

an injunction barring officials from further removal of or damage to their crops and buildings,

and for the revocation of their rights to the land to be declared ‘unconstitutional, illegal, null

and void’.

Affected farmers held a protest on 20th January, storming the project site and demanding that

work cease immediately, in respect of the suit that they had filed. They held placards with

slogans reading: “Gov Fayose, Please Leave Us Alone, Don’t Damage Our Life,” “This Land Is The

Major Cocoa Plantation, Please No Trespass,” “Please Relocate Your Airport to Government

Forest,” “We All Say No To Illegal Airport Project,” “Iwajo, Aso Say No To Illegal Airport,” and

“Igbogun Cries Over Illegal Destruction of Our Property.” Farmers claimed that government

officials had entered their land and stolen produce including cocoa, yams and bananas, and that

the stress of the destruction had caused the deaths of at least ten farmers, including three

women, all of whom had ‘died of shock’.

Governor Fayose remained impervious to the rising chorus of criticism of his pet airport project.

In February he insisted that the airport plan was both timely and meeting people’s needs and

pushed the project, vowing that the first plane would land on the tarmac by 2018. But on 22nd

March the farmers secured a major court victory. Their suit was successful and all their claims –

against Governor Fayose, the state Commissioner for Works, Commissioner for Lands and

Housing, and Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice – were fully vindicated.

The high court in Ado-Ekiti ruled that forcible takeover of land for the airport project, revocation

of their rights to their parcels of land, forcible entry into farmsteads, and destruction of crops,

trees and buildings on this land, were all unconstitutional, illegal null and void. Justice Dele

Omotso also ordered that over US$25,000 be paid to the farmers in damages and granted an

injunction restraining the defendants from forcibly entering the farmland and from harassing or

intimidating the claimants.

Makurdi – 1,000 hectares for cargo airport

In central Nigeria, the Benue state government has signed a MoU (Memorandum of

Understanding) with a private firm, Aerotropolis Development Company Ltd, for a cargo airport,

in the state capital, Makurdi. The MoU stipulates that the state government will provide 1,000

hectares of land for the project.

Sierra Leone

Mamamah Airport – will require relocation of 63 villages

In 2011 China agreed, in principle, to part finance construction of a new airport in Mamamah, a

small town on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital city. The government said that

US$190 million would be required for the project, which would be accompanied by

infrastructure for an ‘airport city’ that would take four years to complete. In June 2014 the

Project Director of the new airport, Molai Buya Kamara, visited communities that would be

affected by the project.

It was estimated that 63 villages would be relocated, and residents were concerned that their

houses had been ‘earmarked for demolition’ in the absence of plans for their relocation and

resettlement. Kamara issued assurances that he had come to engage with affected residents,

that the airport would be advantageous for Mamamah communities and that land owning

families had agreed to resettlement.

Sierra Leone was hit hard by the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa beginning in 2014,

but the Ministry of Transport and Aviation claimed that construction of Mamamah Airport was

on schedule, with the government and Chinese partners remaining fully committed to the

project. A 1,950 square metre ‘Red Zone’ was allocated to the airport and associated facilities.

The Red Zone is within an 8 kilometre radius encompassing an Airport Development Zone (ADZ)

that will be the epicentre of ‘aviation related service industry’ including conference and

entertainment facilities, hotel and car parks. Three key areas for resettlement of relocated

communities had been demarcated, just outside the ADZ perimeter, in which about 1,000

homes were to be built. Meterological equipment had been monitoring weather conditions on

the site for several months and commencement of construction was reported to be imminent,

with contractors mobilising equipment.

By the end of January 2015 construction had still not begun, and nor had construction of houses

and amenities for resettling people, but again it was reported that land for their relocation had

been demarcated. Minister of Transport and Aviation, Leonard Balogun Koroma, toured the site

and stressed the commitment of the government, including President Koroma, to the project.

He said that “the airport is a strong foundation for the president’s agenda of constructing a new

city”. Delays were ongoing. In July 2015 a sod turning ceremony was cancelled and an

educational charity, Engineers for Change, reported that the only construction on the airport

site was the meteorological station and that there had been ‘some challenging land tenure

issues’.

A November 2015 article in the Sierra Leone Telegraph slammed Mamamah Airport, describing

it as a ‘debt laden venture that will be most detrimental for Sierra Leoneans’ and urging the

government to ‘increase and maintain investment in the people of Sierra Leone, rather than

taking huge loans to construct a white elephant project’. Sierra Leone is one the world’s poorest

countries, ranking 180th on the UN Human Development Index, out of 187 countries, 70 per cent

people live below the poverty line. A luxurious airport project would plunge the country even

deeper into debt.

In January 2016 Global Construction Review reported that ‘a chorus of criticism against the

scheme has arisen inside and outside the country’, describing it as ‘the most controversial

infrastructure project in its history’. A Sierra Leone Telegraph editorial urged the government to

focus on health, education and provision of water and electricity and forget the ‘politically

inspired, crackpot and wasteful idea of building a grandiose second international airport’. The

cost would be 6.4 per cent of the country’s GDP and the IMF had argued against it, calling it a

‘vanity project’. A mere fraction of the funds allocated to the new Mamamah airport would be

sufficient to modernise the existing Lungi and Hastings airports.

There was uncertainty over China’s willingness to release the loan for the airport, but President

Koroma and the Transport and Aviation minister continued to push the project. Minister of

Transport and Aviation, Leonard Balogun Koroma stated that the project would “soon kick-

start”. Negotiations between President Koroma and China’s President Xi Jinping were underway

and China Railway International Group, awarded the construction contract in 2012, was

awaiting approval to start construction works.

South Africa

Pietermaritzburg Airport – development on ‘indigenous vegetation’

Expansion of Pietermaritzburg Airport is set to begin this year. Along with development on

vacant land this is first phase of the Master Plan going forward to 2025. The development,

including an industrial zone and commercial zones, hotel and sports facilities, will cover 20

hectares of ‘indigenous vegetation’, so an environmental impact assessment is required.

Port Elizabeth Airport – huge aerotropolis planned

Mindful of declining passenger numbers and budget cuts (which could result in little or no

government funding), Port Elizabeth Airport plans commercial and industrial development on its

land to boost its non-aeronautical revenue. Immediate plans include an office block, vehicle

showrooms, a six-hectare area for manufacturing and construction firms, distribution facilities

and more retail outlets.

Lelo Kunene, commercial manager of airport owner and operator Airports Company South

Africa (ACSA), said the long-term goal, over a 20-year period, is to turn the entire Nelson

Mandela Bay area, which comprises the city of Port Elizabeth and surrounding towns and rural

area, into a ‘huge aerotropolis’ and that the airport already owns land for development. Acting

airport manager Greg Small said that the decline in passenger numbers showed that the airport

can no longer depend on passengers for its “main income”. Airport-owned land around Port

Elizabeth Airport is part of ACSA’s property portfolio. ACSA assistant property manager Zinhle

Ntanzi said that ACSA intends to develop airport cities around all of its airports.

Scottburgh Airport – new airport with an ‘airport city’

A new airport has been proposed near Scottburgh, five times the size of the existing Durban

Virginia Airport that it would replace, with an associated ‘airport city’ featuring hotels, offices

and residential areas. The eThekwini Municipality, one of 11 districts of KwaZulu-Natal province,

is involved in discussions with Seaworld Investment Holdings, a South African investment firm,

over its US$461.8 million offer to develop the new airport and airport city.

Uganda

Kabaale Parish Airport – a 3.1km runway to develop Uganda’s oil hub

A masterplan for an oil refinery, airport and industrial park, on a 29 square kilometre site in

Kabaale Parish, in the Hoima district, Uganda’s oil hub, has been completed. The complex could

be categorised as an aerotropolis as the airport is evidently an integral component; it is

considered a pre-requisite for oil development. Since commercially viable oil deposits were

discovered in Uganda in 2006, in the Albertine Graben region around Lake Albert, on the border

with DR Congo, the Hoima district has become the country’s oil hub.

Communities have been driven off their land, often customarily-owned communal land, for oil

infrastructure development. In August 2014 about 150 families living in Rwamatonga village

were evicted for an oil waste treatment plant. Two people remained on the contested land and

were burned to death. Three months later 70 families were thrown off their land in Rwengabi

village, from a site located near three oil wells. Tens of thousands of people face the threat of

displacement as government and companies move to acquire land for construction of oil

pipelines. The Ugandan government is considering three pipeline route options for oil exports,

passing through either Kenya or Tanzania to a port on the Indian Ocean.

In 2012 the Ministry of Energy announced construction of a key component of infrastructure for

oil development, an oil refinery. A site was allocated in the Hoima district, in Kabaale village

which is close to the shore of Lake Albert, and it was stated that the development, taking up 29

square kilometres of land, would also include an airstrip, shopping malls and flats. The size of

the site is comparable with the world’s largest oil refinery, Jamnagar in Gujarat, India, which

occupies a site of 30 square kilometres. Approximately 7,000 residents of Kabaale village have

been evicted from their homes and productive land for the oil refinery. Affected people were

offered either compensation or resettlement, but Environmental Justice Atlas describes the

process as ‘marked by delays and broken promises’, with many residents reporting

undervaluation of their homes and land, and compensation payments lower than the agreed

rates. Residents not receiving their rightful payments were left living in ‘dire conditions’.

A 2014 report by the Africa Institute for Energy Governance documented two years of human

rights abuses. People who asked for relocation or rejected inadequate compensation were left

languishing in ‘ghost villages’, suffering food shortages with little or no access to clean water,

schools, healthcare. At this stage only 52 per cent of the 7,118 affected people had been

compensated for acquisition of their land. By April 2015 670 property owners were still awaiting

compensation, and 42 of them were disputing the low rates that had been offered. In April 2015

93 families who opted for relocation rather than compensation were still waiting land that was

promised to them. They remained stranded, in dire need of shelter, with no access to clean

water as boreholes had broken down and acutely short of food because they were unable to

grow crops. In October 2015 60 of the families demonstrated against the government’s failure

to relocate them, three years after acquiring their land. They marched 50 kilometres to Hoima

town, where they presented a petition demanding immediate action.

In May 2015 the Civic Aviation Authority (CAA) director of Airports and Aviation Security, John

Kagoro, stated that 24 firms had expressed an interest in tendering for the contract to construct

a fully-fledged airport, which he described as a pre-requisite for oil development, for bringing in

personnel and equipment. On 2nd April 2016 it was announced that development of the master

plan for an airport at Kabaale Parish was complete. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral

Development said that 29 square kilometres of land was being acquired for the oil refinery, an

airport and industrial park. The airport plans include a 3.1 kilometre runway. Comparable to

major airports such as Gatwick, JFK or Sydney this is long enough for Antonov cargo planes to

land on.

The Russian-built Antonov An-124 is the world’s second largest aircraft, larger than an Airbus

A390 and outsized only by the Antonov An-225. A cargo aircraft with a payload capacity of 150

tonnes, the Antonov An-124 is used extensively by the oil and gas industry to transport

heavyweight industrial equipment. Constructing a runway over 3 kilometres long to handle

Antonov An-124 cargo planes delivering equipment for an oil project is not unprecedented. The

Komo Airfield in Papua New Guinea, with a 3.2 kilometre runway, was built specifically to serve

the PNGLNG (liquid natural gas) project.

Zambia

Ndola Airport – 2,000 farmers protest against relocation

In May 2015 it was reported that the 20 square kilometre site for the planned new Ndola

Airport is a former forest reserve that was recently de-gazetted by the government. The site is

northwest of Ndola, Zambia’s third largest city, which is the gateway to the country’s copper

mining region, known as the ‘copperbelt’. Typical aerotropolis-style commercial developments

such as a hotel and housing units are planned, which would diversify the airport’s income

stream, providing various sources of non-aeronautical revenue.

In December 2015 AVIC International was appointed to conduct a feasibility study, over a period

of 21 days, in anticipation of commencement of construction works in March 2016. Joseph

Mumbi, manager of Ndola’s existing Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport, said that

about 700 families would be moved to make way for construction. He stated that people with

legal documentation confirming land ownership would receive compensation before being

evicted, warning that those without proper documentation would not be compensated. He

urged people to exercise caution when considering acquiring land in the area as additional land

will be required after construction of the new airport, for expansion purposes.

AVIC was awarded the US$397 million contract to construct the airport in January 2016,

expecting it to be complete within three years. More than 2,000 farmers in the Dag

Hammarskjöld area rejected the government’s plan to relocate them, to the Ngabwe district, to

pave way for the airport. The farmers’ representative said they were disappointed that the

government officials and councillors failed to consult them over the project, and shocked to see

people on their land. He said that farmers had not begun their usual seasonal farming activities

as they were ‘living in fear’.

Copperbelt Permanent Secretary, Reverend Howard Sikwela, apologised to the farmers, on

behalf of the government, for trespassing on their land, denying accusations that they had been

called illegal squatters. He offered the excuse that the people who trespassed on their farmland

had been conducting feasibility studies to ascertain if the land is suitable for the airport, and

that the government had not consulted them properly because the results were being awaited.

He denied that the farmers would be relocated to the Ngabwe district, saying that the

government would never do something so “inhuman”.

The airport is anticipated to stimulate mining in the Copperbelt: President of the Mine Suppliers

and Contractors Association, Augustine Mubanga, said that discussions were underway to look

at how mining suppliers can best benefit from Ndola Airport and a US$492 million road project.

In March Sikwela stated that the government had identified land that would be offered to 2,097

people for resettlement. This was one of the measures paving the way for construction of the

airport, which will be a “regional cargo hub catering for mining activities in Zambia and the

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)”. The aviation industry has received over US$1 billion from

the government for infrastructure development between 2012 and 2019.

ASIA

Australia

Cairns Airport – loan guarantee could fast-track expansion for commercial development

A 20 year, $1 billion programme to expand Cairns Airport could be fast tracked, if the Australian

government provides a loan guarantee. The Federal Government has widened the scope of its

$5 billion plan to spur growth in Northern Australia – renewing its drive to construct major

resource and infrastructure projects. This could bring forward Cairns Airport’s expansion plans,

which include commercial development along the Cook Highway (a major tourist road) and an

‘aviation enterprise precinct’ to the east of the runway. North Queensland Airports property

development general manager Brett Rose said that the NAIF (Northern Australia Infrastructure

Facility) policy framework could offer an alternative source of funding to accelerate both

aeronautical and non-aeronautical development at the airport.

Part of Cairn’s Airport’s $1 billion expansion plan is for a new helipad, which could mean

demolition of a boardwalk that enables walkers to view and study ecologically sensitive

mangroves. The 700 metre Jack Barnes Bicentennial Mangrove Boardwalk, built 28 years ago,

was laid down as a tribute to the medical researcher who discovered the Irukandji jellyfish,

believed to be the world’s smallest venomous creature measuring just 2.5 centimetres in

diameter. The boardwalk, earmarked as the site for the helipad, is a major tourist attraction but

both Cairns Airport and Cairns Regional Council have refused to say what will happen to it.

China

New Sanya airport – on a 28 square kilometre artificial island

The city of Sanya, on the southern tip of the Hainan province, already has an airport, Sanya

Phoenix International, which hit a record 16 million passengers in 2015. A new airport on an

artificial island in Hongtang Bay is planned, along with an ‘aviation economic zone…seaport

operation area, an international aviation CBD [Central Business District] and an industrial zone

in support of the airport’. The new airport is part of China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ programme (a

network of transportation corridors connecting China with Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe).

The new Sanya airport is projected to cover an area of 28 square kilometres. An offshore

aerotropolis of this scale will require land reclamation on an enormous scale. It is even larger

than the land reclamation for a new airport off the coast of the port city of Dalian, on the

southernmost tip of China’s northeastern Liaoning province, which began in 2011, before official

approval was granted. In 2014, as an offshore site was being considered for a new Sanya airport,

due to lack of available land and the hilly terrain surrounding the city’s suburbs, it was stated

that the Dalian aviation hub would be the world’s largest on reclaimed land, covering an area of

20.9 square kilometres.

India

Delhi Airport – a shopping mall on a scale not yet seen in India

When Delhi Airport (Indira Gandhi International Airport), the busiest passenger airport in India,

was privatised in 2006 the Airports Authority of India (AAI) allowed the operator of the airport,

Delhi International Airport (Pvt) Ltd (DIAL), a joint venture led by GMR Infrastructure Ltd, to

exploit 2,000 hectares of land and use the revenue from it to develop the airport. An 18 hectare

commercial hub called ‘Aerocity’ near Terminal 3 hosts branches of several major hotel chains,

including Pullman, Novotel, Holiday Inn, IBIS and Marriott. Completion of three office blocks in

the Aerocity took the total available area of office space to about 90,000 square metres and fit-

outs for retail and food outlets are underway.

Five realty firms are in the running to build an enormous shopping mall adjacent to the Aerocity,

spread over a 9.3 hectare site. The statement that the mall will be 18.5 hectares in size, twice

the size of the site allocated, probably refers to actual retail floor space, which will be more than

one storey in height. The research head of property at Jones Land Salle’s consultancy, Ashutosh

Limaye, said that “India does not have the mall of this scale yet”. In fact the projected floor

space is the same India’s largest shopping mall, the soon to be officially inaugurated six-storey

Mall of India in Noida, an industrial suburb of Delhi. The mall will be ‘upmarket’, selling global

premium brands and targeting a wealthy customer base.

The Delhi Airport mall is expected to be a major source of non-aeronautical revenue for the

DIAL consortium; the lease is anticipated to yield a one-off payment of over US37.5 million and

annual lease rental of over US$4.5 million. It will cater to residents of parts of Delhi and

Gurgaon next to the airport, in addition to airport passengers. Limaye explained that “When one

builds a mall of such as scale it usually becomes a destination for people from all over”. The

project has set a precedent for use of AAI land for commercial purposes at other airports,

marking a change from the established principle of use for aviation-related purposes.

Dholera Airport – an aerotropolis, key node of gigantic megaproject and defence hub

In February 2015 the Gujarat State Government stated that the Indian Central Government had

expressed support for a proposed Dholera Airport, which would be the state’s second

international airport and an airport city. A 1,700 hectare site had been selected about 85

kilometres from the city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s largest city, and plans included a hotel,

commercial development and industrial areas and an MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul)

facility. By June 1,426 hectares of land had been identified for the airport, envisaged as a key

component of the 920 square kilometre Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR).

An article in the Hindustan Times details farmers’ fears of dispossession of their land for the

DSIR, the site spanning 22 villages, and critiques the state government’s controversial ‘land

pooling’ policy. Ostensibly, under land pooling landowners willingly give up their land to the

government and benefit from the development upon it, receiving a portion of it once facilities

such as roads are built and the value thus increased. But the state government can take half of

farmers’ land without giving compensation, the other half of the land can be at a different site.

Activists claim that the proportion of land in Dholera that is fertile, and cultivated, is far higher

than stated in the Environmental Impact Assessment. Crops include gram (chickpeas), wheat,

cumin and, in the site for the airport, cotton.

Planners intend to make Dholera SIR a major hub for the defence industry, described by an

article in Hindu Business Line as ‘an artillery and aerospace hub’. Plots of land measuring 8

square kilometres are being offered to global defence firms. Comments made by Jagadish

Salgaonkar, Senior Vice-President of Aecom, the Los Angeles based company handling the

project, make it clear that the government is treating defence firms extremely favourably. As

the land is government-owned contiguous parcels can be handed over, and the city is pumping

in funds for infrastructure so firms can start operations with ease.

Salgaonkar explains the type of companies that will benefit: “Our target market is maintenance,

repair and operations (MRO) facilities for aircraft, defence contractors and heavy machinery

manufactures, which require huge land for inventory management. Companies dealing with

helicopters and aircraft can set up shops here.” The range of ‘defence’ manufacturing that

planners aim to welcome to Dholera includes the most lethal military equipment - artillery,

tanks, jeeps and big guns.

The ministry of civil aviation granted in principal approval for Dholera Airport in January 2016,

stating that the greenfield airport would serve the logistics requirements of the DSIR. In addition

to the 1,426 previously identified for the airport, allocation of 2,600 hectares of land for an

‘aviation zone’ was proposed. A September 2015 article in The Guardian provides a wider

context to Dholera Airport and the SIR. Both are envisaged as key nodes in the planned

Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) running 1,483 kilometres through six states. In turn, the DFC is

nested within an even more gargantuan megaproject, forming the spine of the Delhi Mumbai

Industrial Corridor (DMIC).

DMIC is promoted as the world’s largest infrastructure project. A 1,500 kilometre high speed

railway across six states is proposed, linking to a container port in Mumbai that will be the

biggest in India. Other key components of DMIC include a six-lane highway, six airports, 23

manufacturing centres and 24 ‘smart cities’. Part of the DMIC vision is for Dholera to become an

aerotropolis, a region driven by airport centric commercial activity, and approval of the airport

has been recognised as helping drive forward the DMIC.

Plan for airport in Konni

A group of Indian citizens living outside the country has announced an ambitious plan for a new

airport in Konni, Pathanamthitta. It would be the sixth international airport in the state of

Kerala. One of the advocates of the project, Rajeev Joseph, said that the Kerala government

should either give land for the airport, 405 hectares, or allow a newly formed company, Indo

Heritage International Aeropolis Pvt Ltd, to buy and develop the airport and launch a low-cost

airline service. Plans for an airport in Konni come in the wake of vigorous opposition, from local

residents and politicians, to a similar project in Kerala, in Aranmula, on the grounds of land

acquisition and violation of environmental laws.

Indonesia

Airport operator expands retail empire beyond airport land

PT Angkasa Pura Retail is a subsidiary of Indonesia’s state-owned airport operator, PT Angkasa

Pura 1. Established in October 2014 to boost the company’s non-aeronautical revenue, PT

Angkasa Pura Retail exceeded expectations on 2015, reaching 43 per cent of total revenue. The

bulk of PT Angkasa Pura Retail revenue is from food and beverage and an ambitious growth

targets, to increase revenue tenfold in 2016, to US$14.1 million, is focussed on expansion in the

fashion and lifestyle sectors. A total of 14 retail outlets are scheduled to open this year,

including men’s fashion outlets at Sepinggan Airport in Balikpapan and a confectionery and

chocolate shop at Adisucipto Airport in Yogyakarta.

Generating non-aeronautical revenue from retail, within airport terminals and on airport owned

land, is standard practice for an airport operator. But PT Angkasa Pura 1 is taking its commercial

property empire to a different level. In 2015 it opened its first store outside of an airport, a

store called Our Flock, at Kuningan City shopping mall in South Jakarta and another off-airport

store, in the old town area of Semarang, is to open in 2016.

Juanda Airport City - 60 square kilometres of land for an airport city

In February 2015 the President of Indonesia, Joko Wikodo, approved development of Juanda

Airport, near the northeast coast of East Java, into an airport city. Four thousand hectares of

land is required for the project and a second and third runway are to be constructed. In January

2016, state-owned airport operator, Angkasa Pura I, stated that development of a third terminal

and expansion will turn the airport into an ‘Integrated Airport Area’ containing business space

and warehouse areas. This ‘airport city’ and ‘Ultimate Terminal’, with its ‘supporting

infrastructure’, is conceived as the third phase of development, following the second and third

runways, development of Terminal 1 and toll roads. The Governor of East Java requested that

Angkasa Pura I resolve issues pertaining to planning and land use permission for expansion of

the airport.

In April 2016 the East Java Governor Soekarwo stated plans to complete Juanda Airport

expansion by 2019, increasing capacity to 70 million passengers annually. He explained that the

two additional runways would require reclamation of 4 kilometres of land along the northern

coastline and that the airport would be designed as an airport city. It was stated that 6,000

hectares of land had been prepared for expansion of Juanda Airport, 1,500 hectares for the two

new runways and 4,500 hectares for the Airport City and Ultimate Terminal building. Soekarwo

said a shopping concourse and recreational space would be built but refused to comment on the

budget or investors which have agreed to fund the project. It has been reported that the airport

city is one three Indonesian projects that UK investors are interested in, and that the East Java

administration sent a delegation to Heathrow Airport to learn about airport city management.

Kertajati Airport and Aerocity – proposed land area increased to 50 square kilometres

On 18th January 2016 it was announced that construction of Kertajati Airport, in the regency of

Majalengka, West Java, will cost about US$267.4 million, to be paid by central government

through the transport ministry. The financing decision was announced by President Joko

Widodo during his visit to Majalengka. The West Java government is to pay for clearing the land,

totalling an area of 1,800 hectares, 1,000 hectares of which have already been cleared. The

government had withdrawn its search for an investment partner for development of the airport,

redirecting potential investors to the proposed aerocity surrounding it.

A few days later even more ambitious plans for the airport and aerotropolis were outlined, for it

to become a ‘gateway’ to West Java, with capacity for 5.6 million passengers annually and

construction scheduled for completion by 2017. In this announcement 1,800 hectares of land

are allocated for the airport, and alongside it there will be a 3,200 hectare ‘Aerocity’, an

‘industrial area’ with direct access to the established industrial zone of Karawang, the capital of

West Java, containing industrial and storage areas, offices, business and trade areas, housing

and green space. This would take the total land area for the airport and aerotropolis to 50

square kilometres. Kertajati airport and Aerocity would be an economic centre for West Java.

The Kertajati aerotropolis is part of the Indonesian government’s massive aviation growth drive,

setting a target to building 62 new airports over the next 15 years, in particular in isolated areas,

bringing the country’s total number of airport to 299. Kertajati Airport has emerged as a high-

priority, nationally significant project. In February 2016 Indonesia’s Transport Minister, Ignasius

Jonan, said that the Ministry of Transportation was working for Kertajati Airport to be included

in the 2017 state budget, as it is a “strategic” national project, and that a team is being

established to transfer management of the project from the West Java provincial government to

central government.

Kazakhstan

New Almaty airport to be an aerotropolis

In December 2015 Deputy Governor of Almaty, Serik Seydumanov, announced that construction

of a new airport, 48 kilometres northeast of the city, would commence in 2016. Almost 2,000

hectares of land has been allocated for the airport. Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, Samruk

Kazyna, has been designated as the principal Kazakh investor, and Seydumanov stated that an

(unspecified) external investor will also be involved. This followed an announcement by the

Deputy Governor of the Almaty region, Serik Turdaliev. Attending a tourism conference in

November 2015 he stated that the total investment would be approximately US$8 billion, with

the matter of land allocation being under consideration. Six months previously the Mayor of

Almaty, Baurzhan Baibek, said that the new Almaty airport project will be an aerotropolis, a

large complex with business centres, malls and theme parks.

Nepal

Nijgadh Airport – an 80 square kilometre aerotropolis

In 2011 it became evident that long standing plans for Nepal’s second international airport, at

Nijgadh, 170 kilometres south of Kathmandu, were for an aerotropolis. A detailed feasibility

study was commissioned and submitted, for a US$1 billion megaproject stretching over an area

of 80 square kilometres, with 40 square kilometres allocated for the airport and 40 square

kilometres for a ‘well-equipped airport city’. 2014 saw a series of government announcements

emphasising commitment to the project. In March a 100% tax exemption was being considered,

in order to make the project viable. In October the government allocated funds to fence off an

80 square kilometre site, mainly forested land, and a senior official, Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane,

joint secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, stated that the government

planned to acquire an additional 10 square kilometres of land for the project, which would

enlarge the site to 90 square kilometres.

On 5th June 2015 the name and boundary of the airport (shown in the map on page 16, with a

dotted denoting uncertainty over the exact position of the southern, western and eastern

boundary) was published in the Nepal Gazette and the ministry state that ‘1,450 squatters’

would require relocation. A subsequent news article on 21st June stated that a larger number of

people, 1,400 households, a total of 6,000 people, predominantly from the marginalised

Tamang community, live in the project area and were expressing concerns over their

resettlement and rehabilitation. The project had stalled and government finances allocated to it

had not been spent.

As always, megaprojects spawn more megaprojects. A DPR (Detailed Project Report) for a 4-lane

mega-highway between the airport and Kathmandu crossed by 7 bridges, expanding to 6 lanes,

was completed in August 2015. Ostensibly, the rationale for the road is that the 1-hour travel

time that it would enable is essential in order to make the airport feasible. A 2014 feasibility

study had estimated the cost at US$960 million, but the escalated cost in the DPR, to US$1,117

million, was attributed to ‘added scope’ of the project.

January 2016 saw another high level push to commence construction of the airport,

simultaneous with the highway linking it with Kathmandu. The International Relations and

Labour Committee of the Legislature Parliament and the House panel instructed the

government to proceed with construction of Nijgadh Airport. The House panel directed the

government to prioritise the airport, separating it from the airport city project. It instructed the

Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) to begin land acquisition, site

clearance and resettlement of affected people, directed the Ministry and Soil Conservation to

fell trees and clear the site for the airport within two months and directed the MoCTCA to fast-

track environmental impact assessment for the airport.

But, in spite of scaling down the airport project, to a single runway facility, in its initial stages,

the government proceeded with acquisition of the entire 80 square kilometre site, sufficient for

a mega-airport and gigantic aerotropolis. In March it was reported that the task of collecting

land details had been completed, that land valuation would commence shortly, and that public

notices for land acquisition were to be issued by mid-April. Boundaries of the 80 square

kilometre site had been identified and land had been categorised as under individual ownership,

public land and ‘unidentified ownership’, the majority of land in the latter category. The

government had allocated over US$9.37 million for land acquisition which was planned to be

complete by the end of the fiscal year. A confirmed private investor still proved elusive, and the

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Ananda Prasad Pokharel, tabled a proposal to

utilise public resources in order to develop the airport.

Pakistan

New Islamabad Airport – delays, dams and cost escalation

The site allocated for the New Islamabad Airport, near Fateh Jeng, 20 kilometres from the

centre of Islamabad, covers 13 square kilometres and plans include considerable commercial

development - a hotel, convention centre, duty-free shops, air side mall, business centre, food

court, leisure facilities and banks.

Land acquisition for the airport began in 1984 and two decades later, in 2004, Pakistan’s then

Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, inaugurated work on the project, without approval of a design.

Various government bodies approved the plans even though essential components – the fuel

system, radar and radio control building, aprons, sewage treatment, electricity and water supply

– were not even mentioned. Belated appointment of a design consultant was cited by an official

as one of the reasons for prolonged delays and a steep cost escalation, along with lack of an

access road, investigations and litigation, and ‘illegal’ occupation of land acquired for the

airport. Construction of the wider road network to serve the airport, comprising new roads and

widening of existing roads, has also raised design and cost concerns.

In August 2015 it was reported that the prolonged delay in construction of the ill-conceived

airport project was costing the national exchequer more than US$19 million per day. Works

began in 2007, scheduled for completion in 2010. The estimated projected cost of just under

US$355 million had more than doubled, to US$777 million.

The case of New Islamabad Airport also flags up an overlooked resource implication and

environmental impact of airport construction and operations – the vast volume of water that is

required. The new airport’s water requirement is calculated at over 7.5 million litres per day

upon commencement of operations, projected to rise to nearly 28.4 million litres per day by

2035. The site is in a dry area, with no underground water. Initially the Punjab government had

agreed to supply water to the airport, from the Shahpur Dam, but construction delays led to

allocation of this water for agricultural and residential needs, and because of concerns that the

scheme would be unworkable due to technical issues.

Several schemes for rainwater reservoirs were explored. In August 2015 the Civil Aviation

Authority (CAA) informed the Senate that two dams, Ramma and Kasana, will be constructed to

supply water to the airport, through rainwater harvesting, costing US$16.2 million. By this stage,

the projected cost of the airport had escalated further, possibly as high as US$964 million. By

February 2016 the cost of the airport had exceeded US$964 million and an audit criticised the

CAA for failing to manage the megaproject properly.

A March 2016 editorial in the Express Tribune newspaper ridiculed the new airport project as ‘a

series of barking-made failures at every level’. Even the prospect of opening in 2020, a full

decade after the originally scheduled 2010 completion date appeared unrealistic. There was

uncertainty over whether the project was 60 per cent or 85 per cent complete and there was

none of the requisite supporting infrastructure: no water or electricity supply and no road link

to Islamabad. A CAA report to the Public Accounts Committee revealed a serious design flaw:

the two runways have been built too close together to meet international standards, so cannot

be used simultaneously.

South Korea

Second Jeju Airport – five villages resist the island’s largest megaproject

The island of Jeju, 100 kilometres off the southern coast of South Korea, with a dramatic

volcanic landscape featuring black sand beaches, waterfalls and lava caves, is already a major

tourist attraction. In November 2015 the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation

announced a plan for a second Jeju airport that would enable a dramatic increase in the number

of tourists, a US$3.5 billion project to be built by 2025. Initially with one runway the new airport

would have the capacity to accommodate 25 million passengers annually, but the site could be

expanded to accommodate an even higher number of passengers, adding a second runway 20

or 30 years in the future.

Won Hee-ryong, governor of Jeju, said the airport, would be “the largest project in the island’s

history”, a “growth engine on the eastern part of the island”. The province also plans an ‘Air

City’ complex around the airport with facilities including shopping malls and convention and

financial centres. An article in Jeju Weekly stated that the province intends to designate the new

airport area as a ‘special commercial zone’. There is an industrial complex near the existing

airport which offers tax benefits and other incentives to IT and bio-tech firms.

Announcement of the airport came as a huge shock for residents of the island. They were not

consulted or involved in the decision-making process and there has been little consideration of

the impact on rural communities that have thrived for many generations. Most of the site, 70

per cent, is a farming area, close to Honinji Pond, a sacred site where, according to legend,

farming began on the island. Residents worried that they would be forced to relocate with a low

level of compensation that would be insufficient to build a new life.

One of many protests against a second Jeju airport – residents dressed as the three founding fathers of the island

(photo: pagansweare.com)

The new airport would jeopardise the pristine natural environment that is key to the area’s

popularity as a tourist destination. The project could mean aircraft flying low over Sunrise Peak,

a 182 metre high cone rising from the sea with a large, green crater on the island's eastern edge

that is UNESCO protected and a particularly iconic visitor attraction. The area earmarked for the

airport has unique ecological and geological features, include 18 subterranean lava tunnels. In

contrast, various mega tourism projects would be supported by construction of the second

airport, including the Jungmun Tourist Complex, Jeju Myths and History Theme Park and an

integrated resort.

From a provincial government announcement in November it appeared as if the airport had

been granted the go-ahead. Banners proclaiming ‘Second Airport Plans Confirmed’ were

displaced in Jeju City. But representatives of communities opposing the airport said the project

was not finalised; it had yet to receive the required validation from the Ministry of Strategy and

Finance and the National Assembly. By late December banners opposing the airport extended

20 kilometres along roads leading to the five affected villages – Onpyeong, Sinsan, Susan 1,

Nansan and Goseon – where people face displacement and disruption of their lives from aircraft

noise if the project goes ahead.

Demonstrations against the airport have involved hundreds of people, bringing together young,

old and students. Protests have drawn on shamanic traditions, including dressing as the three

founding fathers of the island. Resistance is pitted against a considerable weight of pro-airport

propaganda. Advertisements extend further than the affected villages and is highly visible in

Jeju City. Reaction to the airport plan is presented by the media as a split of opinion, but the

majority of locals, who stand to be most affected, are opposed to it.

Farmers protest outside a provincial government building (photo: pagansweare.com)

Unity in resistance against the new airport was still evident in five affected villages in January.

Red and yellow protest flags with slogans such as “Gieonara!” (Get out!) and “Second Airport

Out! Oppose! Stop!” adorned buildings and cars. Protesters challenged the flouting of

democratic process, blocking the entrance to a briefing meeting, demanding a full public debate

and that the full study upon which the site for the airport was selected be made public.

Campaign leaders spoke of their concern that the destruction caused by the airport would be

compounded by urban sprawl from the ‘AirCity’ and vowed to continue their fight for the future

of their communities.In February, in the face of continued resistance against the second airport,

a consortium supported by the provincial government called for a high-speed transportation

network of high speed rail and buses linking Jeju Island’s main commercial and tourism centres.

The scheme raises severe environmental concerns, including the impacts of construction activity

and road building. Scope for consulting affected communities will be limited if, as envisaged,

design plans are finalised within a matter of weeks. The proposed route is tourism oriented

consisting of four key nodes. Jeju City would be linked with upcoming tourist hotspots:

Seogwipo, Jeju Myths and History Theme Park (one of South Korea’s largest integrated resorts,

scheduled to open in 2017) and the second airport. A map of the proposed high-speed route

indicates plans for an aerotropolis around the second airport site, where the only words written

in English appear: ‘Air City’.

Banners against a second Jeju airport spread 20km along a road through affected villages (photo:

pagansweare.com)

There could be parallels with the long standing resistance to another destructive megaproject

on the Jeju coast. Construction of Gangjeong Naval Base, on the southern coast of the island,

has met with a sustained non-violent struggle because of the destruction of the delicate marine

ecosystem and the strategic purpose of supporting US defence interests. Protesters have stalled

the project many times, physically blocking bulldozers and delivery of construction equipment.

Some anticipate an even greater protest movement if construction of the planned second Jeju

airport goes ahead.

Turkey

Kaş airport plan – threats to heritage, farming and natural environment

A proposal for an airport near the town of Kaş has raised serious concerns over threats to the

region’s heritage, agriculture and natural environment. Kaş is a popular tourism destination on

the mountainous southernmost shore of Turkey, known as the ‘Turquoise Coast’ and one of

least developed areas of the Mediterranean. The rugged coastline has beautiful bays, coves and

beaches. Outdoor activities include kayaking, paragliding, mountain-biking and trekkers flock to

the area as it is situated along the 509 kilometre Lycian Way. The proposed airport site is a few

kilometres inland from Kaş in the Çomucak-Pınarbaşı-Çukurbağ-Ağullu area. It is thought that

the proposed land area to be allocated for the airport is about 20 square kilometres. This is

almost twice the 11.7 square kilometre area of Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, the busiest airport in

Turkey, handling over 61 million passengers in 2015.

If the airport project goes ahead there will be negative impacts on historical and archeological

sites, including Phellos, the largest ancient city in the area, on the outskirts of Kaş. Forested

areas would be destroyed and the area is rich in native plants such as the endangered Lycian

orchid. Fertile land that is cultivated, with agricultural plots, livestock grazing and beehives,

would be lost, along with farming livelihoods. Parts of Pınarbaşı village are in the expropriation

area, so people may face displacement. There are also concerns that residents of the Ağullu,

Belenli, Çukurbağ, and Yeniköy neighbourhoods would be forced to relocate. Noise pollution

from aircraft flying overhead would ruin the tranquillity of the villages. The Greek island of

Kastellorizo is close to the coast so building the airport would require permission from Greece.

Kaş has a population of just 8,000 people and mass tourism would damage unique natural,

cultural and historical assets. Major and international firms would take trade away from local

tourism-based businesses. Campaigners warned that an airport in Kaş would lead to the area

meeting the same fate as the coastal resort towns of Marmaris and Side, also on the

Mediterranean coast, and Kuşadası on the western Aegean coast, their distinctiveness

deteriorating due to large-scale tourism developments.

A consortium of eight companies, DETUYAB, has applied to the Ministry of Transport and

Communications to build the airport on the BOT (build-operate-transfer) model. DETUYAB is

already heavily involved with mass tourism projects in the area. The consortium is developing a

115 hectare tourism zone in the coastal town of Demre, about 47 kilometres east of Kaş,

including restaurants, villas, hotels with a total of 7,500 beds and a 700 berth marina. Demre

has sandy beaches and, like Kaş, is surrounded by historic sites, cultivated land and important

wildlife habitats.

Opposition to the airport plan is gathering momentum. A group of local organisations –

including Kaş Tourism Association, Kaş Kalkan Patara Hoteliers Association, Kaş Underwater

Association and Kaş Environment Platform – has submitted a seven-page report to local state

bodies opposing construction of the airport, detailing the damage that would be caused to

nature, communities and the local economy. By the time this Update was published an online

petition, We don’t want an airport in Kaş, had attracted over 25,000 signatures.

EUROPE

Belarus

China-Belarus Industrial Park – an entire new city on a 95.5 square kilometre site

In 2010 the governments of China and Belarus reached a consensus on a plan to build a

binational industrial park near the Belarusian capital city, Minsk, an arrangement that was

formalised in September 2011 with the inking of the intergovernmental agreement. The project

took a major step forward in May 2013. Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko allocated an

area 40 per cent larger than Manhattan around Minsk Airport, situated 42 kilometres east of the

capital, for an entire new city to be built by China. The announcement included housing for

155,000 people but the main purpose of the US$5 billion project is to function as a springboard

for manufacturing and trade, acting as a staging post between the European Union and Russia.

The joint venture is 60 per cent owned by China National Machinery Industry Corp and 40 per

cent by the Belarus government. China’s ambassador to Belarus, Gong Jianwei, said that the

industrial park will dwarf anything similar elsewhere in Europe. The first stage of the joint

venture is scheduled to be completed by 2020 with the second stage a decade later. The site is

strategically situated near the M1 highway running between Moscow and Berlin and a high

speed rail link is planned to link Minsk Airport to the city centre.

China which agreed to finance the development with low-interest loans conditional on half the

money being spent on Chinese materials. Upon completion the plan is for the hub, within 274

kilometres of EU members Poland and Lithuania, to serve as a manufacturing base for Chinese

exporters and also to provide easy access for tax-free entry into Russia and Kazakhstan. As well

as accessing high-value markets Chinese manufacturing firms will be able to take advantage of a

lower manufacturing costs; the average wage of just US$560 per month is half of the average

wage of Polish workers.

Generous tax breaks are offered to firms to encourage them to invest in the industrial park, and

companies worldwide as well as from China are eligible. Companies specialising in ‘advanced’

sectors such as electronics and biomedicine and committed to investing at least US$5 million

are to be granted a 10 year exemption from profit and property taxes, with a 50 per cent

reduction in these taxes for a further 10 years.

In July 2013, it was reported that two environmental groups, Green Network and Eco House,

had appealed to the Minsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office demanding checks on the legality of the

industrial park project. A vague article stated that the groups claimed that the project was

approved in spite of ‘flaws’ and called for checks on whether the layout conformed with

regulations and regarding the accuracy of an official report. The article also stated that

environmental groups had called for an alternative site for the park, which would endanger the

landscape and biodiversity, and increase air pollution. Freedom of speech and the press is

extremely restricted by the repressive Belarusian government, inevitably muting any criticism of

such an enormous, strategically significant megaproject.

Construction of the industrial park began in 2014 and by July 2015 seven companies had

registered as residents and 350 hectares of the ‘territory’ was being developed. The project is

called ‘Great Stone’ and the strategic significance to both Belarus and China was becoming ever

more evident. In December 2015 President Lukashenka said the industrial park is Belarus’s most

important joint venture and it is the largest overseas industrial park that China is involved with.

Furthermore, the industrial park is a key component of China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ programme

(a network of transportation corridors connecting China with Southeast Asia, Africa and

Europe). Terms of generous tax breaks, over a 20 year period from the commencement of

investment, were reiterated. General Manager of the industrial park, Li Hiaxin, said “The extent

of the favourable tax policies is rarely seen in the world”.

The full site is colossal: covering 95.5 square kilometres, 50 per cent of which is forest. Phase

one, covering 8.5 square kilometres, is scheduled for development over a 7 year period.

Construction of the entire industrial park is anticipated to take 25 years. Although not, to my

knowledge, referred to as an aerotropolis the industrial park bears the hallmarks of this model

of development. A project map shows the industrial park area, divided into several zones, to the

west of Minsk Airport. A promotional video shows grids of grey rectangular buildings covering

most of the greenfield site, clusters bordered by green space and areas of forest are preserved.

Eight functional industrial zones include aviation logistics at the northern end of the runway.

Along with the various industrial zones, a fuller spectrum of urban facilities is planned: hotels,

exhibition and conference centres, golf courses, luxury residential areas, entertainment and a

recreation zone. An area of ‘territory’ is reserved for unspecified future development.

Government investment in major and rapid expansion of Minsk Airport is sure to support the

industrial park. A gap between the airport runway and the land earmarked for the industrial

park is ideally situated for additional airport capacity and this part of the megaproject jigsaw has

now falling into place. In February the aviation department of the Transport Ministry announced

that construction of a second runway at Minsk Airport, which will commence in October, one of

the 2016 investment programmes approved by President Lukashenka. The second runway will

be 3.7 kilometres in length, due to open in 2018, and the project cost is estimated at US$320

million. The government envisages allocating in excess of US$200 million for the runway and

participation of foreign investors will be sought. A new international terminal is also planned.

Hungary

Budapest Airport – airport hotel and cargo city

In 2014 Budapest Airport management met with Saudi investors to discuss plans for a €20

million airport hotel and a Cargo City project. The latter has expanded into a broader Airport

City project and the airport has signed an MOU with the Regional Economic Development

Cluster to accelerate investment in economic activity at the airport. A total of US$38 million has

been committed to expansion of the airport but a significantly higher amount would be required

for the Cargo City and Airport City projects.

Malta

Malta Airport – impact assessment of business hub not publicly available

In December 2015 Malta Airport announced terminal expansion and construction of a second

‘Skyparks’ tower – a business hub. This raised several concerns. Traffic congestion is already a

problem in the area and would increase, and the development will necessitate extension of the

ring road. The project will involve expropriation of ‘patches of farmland. The impact

assessments had not been made available to the public, leaving people in the dark over the

operational requirements such as parking spaces. Two studies upon which the project was

based were withheld due to ‘commercial sensitivity’.

Carmel Cacopardo, an architect and civil engineer appointed by the local council to assess the

environmental impact statement, questioned the necessity of the development and its location.

The periphery of the airport is only the ‘breadth of a road’ from the Gudja business community,

which was concerned over a large supermarket that had appeared in the masterplan. The

supermarket was no longer mentioned but appeared to be visible in the artist’s impression of

what the development would look like. Cacopardo highlighted the airport business hub, as well

as a racing car track along with various ancillary facilities, as among many damaging

developments on the island which ‘will have considerable impact on surrounding villages’,

affecting local residents and nature.

Russia

Domodedovo Airport – plan for largest aerotropolis in Europe

Russia’s first aerotropolis is planned around Domodedovo Airport, Moscow’s main airport

situated 42 kilometres southeast of the city. Clustered development is planned around the

airport, including ‘hotels, exhibition and conference halls, offices, storage and logistics facilities,

industrial sites, residential areas, parks, shopping malls, factory outlets and car parking

facilities’. A logistics and distribution zone is being considered, and an ‘Innovation Special

Economic Zone’ with clusters of technology parks. Other proposals include a ‘health port’ for

medical tourism, and ‘education port’ and facilities for aviation and logistics training.

Domodedovo’s senior vice president for non-aeronautical development, Daniel Burkard,

outlined plans for “a series of interlinked commercial and industrial facilities at a distance of up

to 25 kilometres from the airport”. The total area allocated to Domodedovo Airport is 16,000

hectares; 9,000 hectares are for aviation infrastructure, leaving 7,000 hectares for developing an

aerotropolis. Burkard said that Domodedovo Airport has more land available for development

than any other airport in Europe, and explained that urbanisation near an airport helps an

airport to grow, as demonstrated by Frankfurt, Schiphol and Heathrow airports. Aerotropolis

facilities already constructed over the past few years include a flight catering factory and a four-

star, 350-room hotel.

Sweden

Göteborg Landvetter Airport (Gothenburg) – aerotropolis to support airport growth

Swedavia, a state-owned firm operating ten of Sweden’s airports, has unveiled plans for an

airport city at Göteborg Landvetter Airport, which is 18 kilometres to the west of Gothenburg

and surrounded by undeveloped land. The airport city will cover more than 490 acres (198

hectares) of land. The plan is for typical aerotropolis components including a logistics park,

business district and a hotel and retail area. Karl Wistrand, Chief Executive of Swedavia Real

Estate, property developers for land surrounding airports operated by Swedavia, said that

development around the airport will support growth of airport operations.

UK

East Midlands Airport – planned freight hub would destroy prime farmland

In January UK transport minister Robert Goodwill MP approved plans for a major freight hub to

the north of East Midlands Airport (the busiest cargo-focussed airport in the UK, handling

volumes second only to Heathrow). The plan for the ‘East Midlands Gateway Rail Interchange’,

constitutes 557,000 square metres of distribution and storage facilities on a 100 hectare

greenfield site. The developer is Roxhill and the masterplan on the website shows the

warehouse buildings, rail interchange, storage and vehicle parking areas to the north of the

airport runway, surrounding by trees and landscape screen bunding, reducing the visual impact.

In total, about 243 hectares of farmland and wildlife habitat, including woodlands, would be

destroyed. An intermodal freight terminal – connected to rail networks and the trunk road

system – aims to accommodate sixteen 775 metre long trains per day. The project is called a

strategic rail freight interchange (SRFI) but this may be a misnomer. Proposed warehouses will

not be directly linked to the rail network, a matter which the examination authority took issue

with. Instead, it is envisaged that freight will be transported between the terminal and

warehouses on road-based tractors. Road improvements including widening of the M1

motorway form part of the plans.

Potential lack of rail connectivity for the site, which might consign it to function as a road-based

operation, was one of the main reasons why an examining panel of planning inspectors

recommended that government approval for the SRFI project should be refused. But the

conclusions of the panel were rejected by the government. The issue that a rail connection to

the freight hub may never materialise, leaving it as a road freight yard with the associated noise

and air pollution from vehicles, is also a key concern of the J24 Action Group. Formed by local

residents and the parish council, the name of this group derives from the Junction 24 of the M1

motorway, located to the north of the freight hub site. J24 Action Group has a Facebook page –

Say No To SRFI in DE74 - J24 Action Group.

J24 Action Group has campaigned against the SRFI on the grounds of lack of a rail link and

several other important issues. The site is entirely green space and prime farmland and valuable

plant and animal habitats will be destroyed. Ten warehouses, each between 18 and 25 metres in

height, are planned and continuous – 24 hours a day seven days a week – operations, will

increase levels of noise, air and light pollution for residents in the surrounding area. There are

also concerns that development will increase the risk of flooding in neighbouring villages and

that the proposed flood mitigation measures have not proven effective. A Roxhill document,

‘Summary of the East Midlands Gateway Proposals’, shows new road infrastructure and

associated landscaping extending eastwards and northwards, including widening of the M1

motorway and a bypass connecting the M1 with the A6 road, running though farmland south of

the village of Kegworth.

In response to government approval of the freight hub, Toni Harrison, a member of J24 Action

Group and chair of the local Parish Council, said that the area is already overdeveloped, and the

new development is unnecessary as there is a lot of empty warehouse space at Castle

Donington, immediately to the east of the site. She said the new of approval of the project was

“devastating” but that the opposition campaign will not give up, and is considering applying for

a judicial review.

Priorities outlined in proposals for restructuring of regional government would provide both

financial and transportation benefits to the SRFI. A proposal for a Free Trade Zone, the first in

the UK, around East Midlands Airport, offering tax breaks for businesses, is top of the list of

pledges that negotiators for devolution of powers to a new ‘combined authority’ have

requested from government. Second on the list of pledges that negotiators have asked for is

that construction of the nearest section of the planned HS2 (second high speed rail network),

through Derbyshire, be brought forward from 3032 to 2027. The SRFI project appears to be a

high priority for the UK government, as it has proposed routing HS2 through the site.

Gatwick Airport – lively campaign against ‘Airport City’ on open green space

Residents and businesses in Horley, a town in a rural setting to the north of Gatwick Airport,

were shocked when the local authority, Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, announced

plans to purchase 69 hectares of land for a business park, agreeing to use its powers of

compulsory purchase. Local people had not even been consulted about the plans. On the last

page of a 9-page agenda item ‘Development of land to south of Horley: Proposal to enter into a

Joint Venture’, submitted to the Council Executive, the proposal is referred to as ‘Airport City

Gatwick’.

Conservative Party Councillor Natalie Bramhall claimed that information about the business

park could not have been made public because it was “commercially confidential”, but claimed

to have received offers from international businesses wanting to move onto the site. A business

park would take up green space that forms a buffer between the town and the airport,

removing its open setting and imposing development that would mean a continuous area of

urban sprawl. Residents also expressed concerns that the business park would increase pressure

for development on greenbelt land neighbouring the site and increase traffic on roads that are

already congested. Substantial areas of new housing, roads, and services such as schools and

hospitals would be required for a development of the scale that is envisaged. Public open land

and agricultural land would be lost and two equestrian facilities and sporting facilities forced to

close.

The Keep Horley Green campaign was established to coordinate opposition to the business park,

rapidly gaining a following on Facebook and Twitter. The group pointed out the area earmarked

for ‘Airport City Gatwick’ is a flood plain, inundated with water every year. Covering a vast area

with impermeable concrete would leave communities downstream of the site at increased risk

of flooding.

The site duly flooded in January 2016, following heavy rains that left many areas of the UK in

undated with water. A Keep Horley Green video, posted on YouTube, is a graphic illustration

that excess water has to go somewhere and of the absurdity of the plans to build on the

floodplain. Local campaigner Joanna Barnett stands in water that is over 60 centimetres deep

and rows a boat over part of the site where the water was even deeper. Ducks were swimming

on the newly formed lake.

Keep Horley Green was also outraged to discover that the Council proposes to spend

US$780,000 of public money to prepare the land for developers. The video of the flooded site

helped to garner support for a petition against the business park plans. By 15th January the

number of signatures had reached 4,000. Brendon Sewill, chair of the Gatwick Area

Conservation Campaign (GACC), a group that has sustained opposition to expansion of Gatwick

Airport since 1968, slammed the plans as threatening to turn the area into “an amorphous mess

of offices, factories and traffic lights”.

LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN

Brazil

Brasilia Airport – plans for Brazil’s first airport city

Inframerica, a private airport operator and major investor in Brazil’s airport privatisation

programme, is to invest US$907 million in major expansion of Brasilia Airport, an ambitious plan

for ‘the first airport city in the country’. There are six key components: a 9,000 square metre

expansion of the international department lounge, a new terminal, office park, Sun Park City

Center complex, five new hotels with a total of 1,600 rooms, and a large storage facility.

The new terminal ‘Terminal JK’ is envisaged as a substantial commercial complex – spanning

303,000 square metres with 280 shops, 30 fast food outlets, eight restaurants, two hotels,

cinema, gym and a car park with 4,000 spaces. This is comparable with Heathrow Terminal 5,

which covers 300,000 square metres and hosts 100 shops and restaurants).

The five hotels will extend the footprint of major global hotel chains: Wyndham, Hard Rock, Ibis

and Etap. The Sun Park City Center, a 418 square metre building next to the new airport

terminal – featuring a water park, aquarium, facilities for children, cinema, green space, shops,

an arena, convention centre, hospital and university – sounds like a mini-aerotropolis, a

destination in its own right. The total area allocated for all the components of the airport city,

132 hectares, is small by global standards.

Ecuador

Quito Airport – commercial revenue from a 1,500 hectare site

The new Quito airport, situated 18 kilometres to the east of Ecuador’s capital city, on the

Tababela plateau, opened in February 2013. The airport aims to increase commercial revenue

across its 1,500 hectare site, from aeronautical and non-aeronautical activities. A US$17 million

150 room hotel (part of the Wyndham chain, the world’s largest hotel group) is being built and

other developments are being considered, such as MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul)

facilities for Airbus and Boeing. A Special Economic Zone has been established on a 200 hectare

site to the east of the airfield. After opening the airport access roads were incomplete, but a

government funded highway to northern Quito improved access and opening of a six-lane ‘Ruta

Viva’ highway to downtown Quito, funded by the Andean Development Corporation -

Development Bank of Latin America, halved the journey time to 45 minutes.

MIDDLE EAST

Iran

Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) – a 140 square kilometre aerotropolis

Plans for an airport city around Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA), which opened in

2004 and is located 35 kilometres south of Tehran, were approved by a cabinet meeting in June

2014. The construction contract was valued at US$2.5 billion and Deputy Head of Iranian

Minister of Road and Urban Development, Mohammad Ali Nourian, said talks had been held

with foreign countries and a Chinese firm and that the project would begin in the near future,

paving the way for private investors.

Opportunities for investors would be presented in the form of 25 ‘technical towns’ focussed on

a range of activities including ‘health, education, tourism, media, entertainment, trade,

environment, high tech, exhibition and export’. The scale of the planned airport city, 140 square

kilometres, rivals Dubai South, a 145 square kilometre aerotropolis being constructed around

Dubai’s new airport, Al Maktoum.

In March 2015 the Iranian government established the IKIA Airport City Company to manage the

project and supervise investment. The master plan reveals that the aerotropolis will cover a 137

square kilometre area around the airport, containing a 2,500 hectare ‘Special Economic Zone’

(SEZ), also referred to as a ‘Free Trade Zone’. Incentives to attract businesses to the SEZ are

generous, in particular a 20 year tax exemption. Objectives for the airport city include ‘creating

sustainable sources of income to improve aeronautical, cargo and passenger operations’ and

‘evolving IKIA into a multimodal passenger and cargo hub’. A full 60 per cent of the airport’s

revenue is expected to be ‘non-aeronautical revenue’ – from non-aviation commercial and

industrial and activities on airport owned land.

Expansion of the airport, in four phases, is to run in parallel with development of the airport

city, aiming for a dramatic increase in annual passenger capacity from the current 6.5 million to

90 million. Finances are to be raised by leasing plots of land to private investors, but a

substantial injection of state financial support has already been allocated to the project –

US$300 million as initial capital. It is therefore evident that a symbiotic relationship between

growth of the airport and the aerotropolis surrounding it is envisaged.

In December 2015 the contract for Phase 1 construction of the aerotropolis, this time referred

to as ‘IKIA Airport Town’ and including two new passenger terminals and part of the free trade

zone, was awarded to Netherlands Airport Consultant Company (NACO). Construction is

scheduled to take place over a five year period.

Iraq

Diwaniya Airport – plan for largest cargo airport in Iraq and an aerotropolis

In February 2015 the US$1.35 billion contract to build and operate a proposed Diwaniya Airport

and aerotropolis, in the Diwaniya province in southern Iraq, was awarded to a Kuwait

contractor, Al Nasriyah Al Kuwaitiah Company. The project is in three phases. The first is

building the airport, for which an area of 1,750 hectares has been allocated, to be focussed on

cargo operations and the largest air cargo facility in Iraq. The second phase is establishing a free

trade zone.

The third phase is building what CEO of Al Nasiryah, Sheikha Eman Nasser Sabah Al-Nasser Al-

Sabah, described as a full service aerotropolis, on an additional 1,750 hectares of land –

comprising an entertainment district, exposition centre, public plaza, shopping centre, hospital,

medical centre, sports complex, university campus, research and technology park, industrial

parks, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities. There will also be space for industrial parks, a

research and technology park, just-in-time manufacturing facilities, and mixed-use commercial

and residential housing.

Sheikha Eman said that the airport and aerotropolis “will become the engine that drives the

socio-economic development of Southern and Central Iraq for several decades” and represents

“a remarkable milestone in the establishment of closer economic ties between Kuwait and

Iraq”. A remarkably fast-paced schedule was announced: for the airport to be fully operational

by early 2017 and the entire project complete within five years.

Saudi Arabia

King Abdulaziz Airport (Jeddah) – plans for a 115 square kilometre aerotropolis

A US$11.3 billion expansion of King Abdulaziz Airport, 19 kilometres north of Jeddah, aims to

increase passenger capacity from 16 million annually to 80 million by 2035, and expand cargo

capacity from 1.5 million tonnes per year to 3 million tonnes, making it one of the world’s

largest airports. It is planned that, upon completion, the airport will cover a total area of 115

square kilometres, including a 6.5 square kilometre airport city with housing, restaurants,

hotels, retail and other facilities. The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has appointed

Netherlands Airport Consultant Company (NACO) to develop masterplans for 13 of Saudi

Arabia’s airports, including examining methods to increase non-aeronautical revenue from

development of airport commercial areas.

In October 2015 it was announced that authorities would soon begin distributing compensation

for approximately 1,000 plots of land that had been confiscated for the new airport, in the form

of new plots of land of a size similar to that taken for the airport. An official said that a district

with 1,000 plots of land, with utilities in place, had been developed for this purpose.

Madinah Airport – a model for privatisation and non-aeronautical revenue

Madinah Airport (also called Prince Mohammed Bin Abdul Aziz Airport) is to the west of the

capital city of the Madinah region, on the west of the country, alongside the Red Sea coast.

Phase one of the airport’s US$1.2 billion three-phase expansion programme opened in July 2015

– a three-level 156,000 square metre terminal with capacity for 8 million passengers per year.

Phase two expansion is set to accommodate 19 million passengers per annum, rising to a

number in excess of 40 million upon completion of phase three. Construction of

accommodation for 100,000 residents is also planned.

President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) Sulaiman Al-Hamdan said that, as

Saudi Arabia’s first privatised airport project, Madinah Airport could serve as a model for

privatisation of airports in other regions, and that privatisation comes hand in hand with

airports developing alternative, non-aeronautical revenue streams. Al Hamdam also said that

expansion of Madinah Airport is integral to the government’s economic diversification strategy,

aiming to move the country away from dependence on oil revenues. Non-aeronautical revenue

from airport-linked developments would indeed diversify Saudi’s economy and reduce the

country’s reliance on income from oil exports. But the airport centric development threatens to

lock in fossil fuel intensive infrastructure decades into the future; increasing consumption of oil

and perpetuating dependence upon it.

NORTH AMERICA

US

Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport (Louisiana) – ‘raw land’ available

Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport owns 600 acres (243 hectares) of ‘raw land’ at its Aviation

Business Park that is available to tenants in tracts of various sizes. The business park is already

the airport’s fourth largest source of revenue, generating between US$2 million and US$3

million annually.

Benton Airport (Illinois) – development on ‘grassy, untouched land’

In September 2015 Benton Airport broke ground on a Business Park, on 37 acres (15 hectares)

of ‘grassy, untouched land’, enthusing that the project was moving quickly after nearly a decade

of efforts to commence development on the site. The Benton-West City Economic Development

Corporation had overseen the plans for the business park and received a US$115,000 grant for a

new road to go through it.

Merrill Field Airport (Anchorage, Alaska) – office buildings on green space

Merrill Field Airport wants to develop green space which is airport owned, public use land,

across the street from one of its runways. Some community members are concerned that the

proposed office buildings pose a threat to a park (which the airport has suggested moving to an

alternative site). They are also worried the development would mean loss of character of the

neighbourhood, due to a significant increase in intensity of land use, and negative impact on

wetlands.

Palm Beach Airport – rental income from hotel, store, car wash, gas station, fuel

Palm Beach Airport seeks a developer to build a 150 room hotel on a 10 acre site, which would

provide a new source of revenue for the airport. Already, a ‘prime piece of airport-owned land’

has been leased for a travel plaza, scheduled to open in 2016, with a convenience store, gas

station, car wash and Dunkin’ Donuts outlet. In addition to rental income the airport received

half a cent from each gallon of fuel sold at the gas station.

Southwest Florida Airport – incentives for shopping centre and other development

The ‘Skyplex’ branding for development on 870 acres (352 hectares) of land on the north side of

Southwest Florida Airport was announced about a decade ago, but to date there has been just

one property lease, a small area of 3.75 acres (1.5 hectares) for a shopping centre. Efforts by the

airport owner, Lee County Port Authority, to encourage development on the full area of land

have included provision of water and sewage services and incentives for non-aviation

development.

Valley Airport (Harlingen, Texas) – shovel ready site for aerotropolis

In 2014, Mayor of the City of Harlingen, Chris Boswell, outlined plans for Harlingen Aerotropolis,

an airport-centric industrial, commercial and residential development. In April 2015 nearly 480

acres (194 hectares) of land, was designated as a certified site for the Aerotropolis, meaning

that it is a project ready industrial site, with all entitlements in place, so is ‘shovel ready’ for

development.

In January 2016 the airport’s director of aviation, Marv Easterly, said the land was ‘site ready’

with all utilities – electricity, telecoms, water and sewage – in place and that building permits

would be approved quickly. He declined to reveal which businesses had contacted the airport

about locating in the aerotropolis, but said commercial aerospace firms would be suitable, and

emphasised Valley Airport’s established lease arrangements with Boeing and Lockheed Martin

and production of Atlas V, Delta II and Delta IV rockets – which have both military and space

applications. A map on a site selection website shows the Harlingen Aerotropolis site to the east

of the runway and operational buildings. A promotional video shows the shovel ready site, all

vegetation removed. Major corporations already on site include DHL and FedEx.

Watertown Airport – public funds on studies and trees being cleared

In December 2015 it was reported that Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency (JCIDA),

in New York, has spent US$500 million on preliminary studies for a business park at Watertown

Airport and is soon to begin clearing trees on 26 acres of land. JCIDO claims that the bat

population on the site will not be threatened. The longer term project encompasses 100 acres

owned by the JCIDA, which wants to purchase additional land, to have approximately 200 acres

for the business park. JCIDA received considerable public funds for planning the business park:

US$125,000 from the National Grid’s Shovel Ready Infrastructure program, which it aims to

match with grants from the North Country Regional Economic Development Council.

About GAAM

Launched in March 2015 the Global Anti-Aerotropolis Movement (GAAM) aims to:

• Research aerotropolis developments worldwide

• Raise awareness of aerotropolis developments and foster public debate

• Support local struggles against aerotropolis projects

• Build an international campaign community

GAAM co-founders are:

AirportWatch, U.K.

AirportWatch Europe

Pastoralists Indigenous NGO's (PINGO’S Forum), Tanzania

Third World Network (TWN)

Tourism Advocacy & Action Forum (TAAF)

Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team (tim-team), Thailand

Rose Bridger, author of the book ‘Plane Truth’

Please share this update to help raise awareness of aerotropolis developments.

GAAM website – GAAM Twitter @AntiAeroGAAM – GAAM Facebook – GAAM YouTube

The aerotropolis maps in this document were produced for GAAM by InTouch GIS Services using

publicly available information.

aerotropolis update, no. 3, may 2016

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