Airports Council International (ACI) World is calling on governments around the world to make airport capacity a central part of long-term national infrastructure and economic planning, warning that waiting until capacity constraints become a crisis would leave the industry with too little room to respond.
The organisation is urging policymakers to increase airport capacity while making better use of existing infrastructure, modernising the frameworks governing airport slots and market access, and establishing stable regulatory conditions capable of attracting the investment required to support future growth.
Speaking at the ACI-LAC/World Annual General Assembly, Conference and Exhibition in Lima, Peru, ACI World Director General Justin Erbacci said the scale of the investment challenge requires governments and the aviation industry to act well in advance.
“The industry will need to invest US$4.6 trillion by 2055 just to meet the growth already coming its way. But we cannot simply build our way out of this challenge. Capacity creation means getting more from existing infrastructure, working as one system with airlines and air navigation service providers, and creating policy so that infrastructure can deliver its full benefits—connecting people and markets while also enhancing regional economic value,” Erbacci said.
According to ACI World, airport slots provide a key test of how governments approach capacity management. Following the release of its white paper earlier this month, the organisation is now taking its position on slot policy directly to governments and regulators worldwide.
ACI World argues that slot policy can no longer be viewed simply as a technical scheduling issue. Instead, decisions surrounding scarce airport capacity have wider strategic implications for communities and national economies, influencing connectivity, competition and passenger choice over the long term.
“When capacity is scarce, decisions about who can fly, where and when shape connectivity, competition and passenger choice,” Erbacci said.
The organisation is therefore asking governments to anticipate future aviation growth, ensure that additional capacity is available before airports reach crisis point, and modernise both regulatory frameworks and slot policies.
ACI World also says that expanding airport capacity requires a financial environment that allows airports to fund the infrastructure needed for that growth. Restricting airports’ ability to finance expansion while simultaneously expecting them to increase capacity, Erbacci argued, creates an equation that cannot work.
“When capacity is scarce, decisions about who can fly, where and when shape connectivity, competition and passenger choice,” he said, adding that governments must plan ahead rather than waiting for shortages to become critical.
ACI World is also calling on regulators to establish stable and proportionate frameworks that encourage long-term investment. At the same time, it wants finance ministries to look beyond the immediate revenues generated by aviation and recognise the much larger economic value created by connectivity.
The organisation’s overall message is that airport capacity should be treated as a long-term national infrastructure issue, requiring coordinated planning between governments, airports, airlines and air navigation service providers rather than action only once capacity pressures have become acute.
