As the Asia-Pacific region solidifies its position as the undisputed engine of global aviation growth, the spotlight is increasingly turning toward the massive scale of infrastructure development, digitalization, and hub evolution required to keep pace. To dive deep into these transformative trends—from India’s exponential airport expansion to next-generation terminal technology and regional hub dynamics—Vishal Kashyap, Managing Editor of Aviation World speaks with Mabel Kwan, Managing Director at Alton Aviation Consultancy (Singapore). In an exclusive conversation, she shares strategic insights on how global consultancies are guiding stakeholders through an era of unprecedented transition and resilience. Excerpts…
AW: What’s the current overview of the airport infrastructure development in Asia Pacific region?
A: The COVID-19 pandemic forced governments and investors to pause and take stock of airport development. It was a timely reality check for a region that had been expanding at a breakneck pace and is once again projected to be the primary engine of global aviation growth.
This pause compelled the industry to re-evaluate the future of airports across three critical vectors: (i) Operational Resilience (ii) Security (iii) Technology. Out of that reflection, two major themes emerged.
First, we saw a massive leap in stakeholder integration. Before the pandemic, airport operations were heavily siloed—airlines, ground handlers, and immigration authorities largely operated in their own bubbles. But remote-work realities and paperless mandates forced the entire ecosystem to collaborate to survive. Today, that digital integration has become a permanent blueprint; digitization is no longer an isolated airport initiative, but a synchronized effort connecting airlines, border control, and ground services to enable real-time, data-driven decisions.
Second, physical restrictions and a subsequent post-pandemic talent drain—as younger workers sought stability in other sectors—accelerated the adoption of automation. Technology became a solution to labour constraints, driving a pervasive yet thoughtful shift in how airports position themselves for the future.
Q: As a global consultancy, how is Alton Aviation actively engaging with these progressive developments in airport infrastructure? Could you elaborate on your specific role and how you plan to expand your involvement moving forward?
A: Our work reflects the increasingly connected nature of aviation, where airport development extends well beyond physical infrastructure. We support airports in long-term planning, new businesses development such as cargo, aerospace, ground handling, operational efficiency and technology integration, as well as improving the passenger experience and workforce journey.
Beyond airports, we work with airlines, maintenance, repair and overhaul providers, cargo operators, ground handlers and aircraft manufacturers. This breadth gives us a perspective across the full aviation value chain, helping clients understand how decisions in one area affect the wider industry. Looking ahead, our focus is on building on that experience to help clients plan for change and translate their strategies into practical outcomes.
Aw: With airports increasingly digitizing every aspect of the passenger terminal—well beyond just e-gates—many are still transitioning from legacy systems. As a global consultancy, how do you view this gradual migration process, and how do you help airports navigate the transition?
A: True digitization goes far beyond simply converting paper files or people’s records into digital formats. It requires a holistic, end-to-end journey. Just as we used to map physical passenger experiences, we now need to map the entire digital passenger journey. This transformation doesn’t begin at the terminal gates—it starts long before a passenger even leaves home, and extends all the way through to air traffic services, integrating every touchpoint along the way.
The real bottleneck, however, isn’t the technology itself; it’s the data. Questions around ownership, compliance, and a reluctance to share information remain major hurdles to achieving true, end-to-end real-time data visibility.
AW: We’ve recently seen significant disruptions to airport operations in the UK, often driven by IT or digital system failures that severely impact the entire ecosystem. As an advisor, how do you see airports mitigating these operational vulnerabilities moving forward?
A: When we talk about resilience, cybersecurity and data security are core priorities for airports. As reliance on technology grows and digital systems replace manual processes, resilience needs to be built into planning from the outset. That means defining clear cybersecurity requirements before systems are developed and embedding them in both day-to-day operations and the underlying system architecture. Equally important is operational continuity: airports and their partners need regularly tested contingency plans, clear responsibilities and fallback procedures to maintain essential services during a disruption. Resilience is not only about preventing failures, but also about how effectively the airport responds and recovers.
AW: Turning to the Indian market, the government has laid out an ambitious roadmap to develop 100 new airports over the next decade. Given this massive scale of expansion across Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, how does a global consultancy view this exponential growth, and what are the primary structural challenges in making it sustainable?
A: It is a natural evolution. With one of the world’s largest populations and a rapidly expanding middle class, India checks all the macroeconomic boxes required to drive tremendous growth in aviation traffic. However, to sustain this trajectory, airlines alone aren’t enough—we need a complete, robust ecosystem. That means developing the entire value chain: Ground Handling, MRO services, Cargo, and Airport Support Services must all grow hand in hand.
Looking purely at raw passenger numbers tells only part of the story. Over the long term, we may see some airports evolve or transition to serve specialized roles within this broader ecosystem—whether as dedicated cargo hubs, logistics centre, or aerospace and MRO-focused facilities. Developing the infrastructure to support these specialized functions is just as critical as building passenger terminals.
AW: When looking at major international hubs like Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, how do you see the landscape evolving? Are there emerging contenders positioning themselves to capture the massive traffic flows in this region?
A: There is often an unnecessary obsession with building ‘hubs,’ but a true hub relies heavily on international-to-international transit—and that is a very high bar to clear. To capture international transfer traffic, you need immense infrastructure, a base airline with a matching network model, fierce cost competitiveness, and dense global connectivity. With a population of over a billion people, India doesn’t need to chase the traditional hub model. Its intrinsic strength lies in an immensely powerful domestic catchment. The logical priority should be building world-class origin-and-destination airports. By focusing on that traffic, India can capture local demand and reverse the traffic leakage currently going to foreign hubs.
AW: Looking at the Asia-Pacific region as a whole, how would you evaluate the current growth pattern? Are we seeing a positive trajectory, or is there still significant ground to cover to unlock its full potential?
A: Asia-Pacific is a major air traffic market and is well positioned to remain a key driver of global aviation growth. Realising that potential, however, will depend on developing the right infrastructure—not simply adding capacity, but ensuring investment is aligned with demand.
For smaller cities, terminal capacity needs to be carefully matched to the market it serves. Capacity that runs ahead of demand can put pressure on an airport’s long-term financial sustainability. Clear national strategies and policy frameworks can help guide investment, while modular infrastructure allows capacity to expand as demand develops. As the region builds out its aviation network, it has an opportunity to learn from established markets and take a more adaptable approach to airport development and design smarter, cleaner slates.
Equally important is turning capacity into meaningful connectivity that drives economies. That means airports, airlines and governments working together to develop commercially sustainable routes and make air travel more accessible across the region. Ultimately, success should be measured not just by how many airports we build, but by how well they connect people, businesses and markets. That is how Asia-Pacific can turn its growth potential into lasting value.
