海角视频

, with an anticipated 18.8鈥痓illion passenger journeys by 2045, with the ITA reporting that global air passenger numbers are forecast to grow at an average rate of

Airport operators need solutions to capacity expansion and revenue protection that deliver speed, predictability and resilience. The airports that will succeed in the future aviation landscape are ones that act to meet the steep levels of predicted demand. But they face a challenge: growing capacity without interrupting the daily operation of a 24/7 commercial ecosystem. They need to start building 鈥� but all while safeguarding airline schedules, maintaining security integrity and protecting non-aeronautical revenue.

How do COOs and CFOs fund and deliver expanded capacity at the speed demand requires, without triggering disruption that erodes revenue and trust? Airports are now learning the benefits that offsite modern methods of construction can bring to their business.

Factory鈥慴uilt assemblies that are refined offsite and then brought to site is not just a delivery technique, but a strategic lever for airport operators/owners to keep operations live while expanding capacity, reduce airside delivery risk and reach cost and carbon targets without slowing growth.

Modern Methods of Construction (MMC)

Airport operators need techniques that deliver schedule certainty, product quality and predictability, with risk reduction, flexibility and improved safety as they expand and modernise.

Where traditional construction is highly sequential, weather鈥慸ependent and prone to onsite disruption, offsite MMC techniques allow major components — from repeatable modules to large pre鈥慳ssembled sections 鈥� to be fabricated in a controlled factory environment and transported to site for installation. Prefabricated elements can be disassembled and moved to another part of the airport if required in the future, allowing for future flexibility.

As airports are pushed to their limits, offsite and pre鈥慳ssembled MMC approaches offer a route to meeting demand while delivering:

1. Operational continuity and risk reduction
2. Reducing airside risk in project delivery
3. Cost and carbon efficiency

A recent airport development illustrates this shift in practice. At Manchester Airport鈥檚 Terminal 2 expansion, the design team adopted an offsite approach for major elements including a new car park structure and pier foundations. The design鈥揷ontractor team worked collaboratively in a shared 3D modelling environment to test interfaces and resolve potential clashes in advance.

While this approach front鈥憀oads design effort, it significantly reduces construction鈥憇tage risk by enabling issues to be addressed before they reach site. A large car park was completed in a shorter timescale 鈥� providing the client early revenue income. The modularised pier foundation strategy reduced on鈥憇ite work, shortened construction time, and improved quality while better accommodating existing underground airport infrastructure.

1. Operational continuity and risk reduction

Despite pressure to expand to meet rising demand, full closure to accommodate construction work is rarely an option. Operations must continue even during significant upgrades to reduce the risk of flight delays, capacity bottlenecks and airline/commercial revenue losses.

Karl Lyndon is global aviation lead at 海角视频. He said, 鈥淲e can鈥檛 eliminate disruption, but we can minimise it.

鈥淢ost operators see offsite and MMC as a way to reduce the risk that construction poses to their aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenue streams. A construction approach which secures longer aircraft stand capacity to meet demand at peak times, and limiting disruption for the passenger journey close to the aircraft interface, means happier passengers and the least disruption. 

鈥淪imilarly, cleaner, shorter duration build cycles through MMC safeguards non-aeronautical revenue when constructing car parking and close to retail and advertising assets.鈥�

Delivering operational continuity relies on a suite of approaches. One of those approaches is using modular construction to leverage the cost, emission and time benefits it brings.

A clear example of the benefits of pre鈥慳ssembled, offsite assets is the delivery of Midfield Satellite Concourse (MSC) South at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). With Woods Bagot, 海角视频 delivered an offsite construction and relocation (OCR) strategy that enabled the new concourse to take shape in just a matter of a few weeks. With sections built and ready for final assembly on site, the final construction schedule of moving nine segments across the airfield was more than halved and the process was unconstrained by site activities and dependencies.

Faster project delivery is a clear driver for those who need to balance delivery with maintaining existing operations. At LAX, once construction began, a segment (a typical segment was approximately (46m x 24m) was moved every three days 鈥� meaning the whole construction was wrapped up in about a month. While reducing the time and labour required on site, the off-site construction strategy also helped the airport to meet its own ambitious sustainability targets, including targeting LEED Silver certification.

2. Reducing airside risk in project delivery

The redline for access and security 鈥� landside and airside 鈥� creates a key constraint for operators. Construction gets radically more complex and risk-laden once materials, equipment and people are airside. The screening takes time and directly impacts on the number of hours in a day where construction can occur. Inefficiency here translates directly into operational risk. The opportunity lies in rethinking how projects are planned and delivered within these constraints.

With an approach using offsite modern methods of construction, many of the airside/landside blockers can be bypassed and much of the work done offsite. It compresses risk into shorter, controlled windows. It also means that the quality of the product is more reliable and repeatable, because most of the work done happens in factory conditions.

3. Cost and carbon efficiency

For operators shaping future capacity and growth strategies, cost and carbon efficiency is now a key differentiator when evaluating traditional or modern methods of construction.

Carbon reduction is delivered in modular methods through improved material efficiency, reduced waste and optimised logistics. Embodied carbon reductions are real and measurable. A 2024 Nature Scientific Reports study of a modular project in Hong Kong found , while RIBA report project reductions of between Modular approaches can improve carbon outcomes while also reducing whole life cost, helping operators meet targets without sacrificing their desired pace of growth.

Accelerating investment in airport infrastructure to accommodate future passenger numbers is necessary but is always balanced with other pressures that require investment: day-to-day asset maintenance, safety/security requirements, customer experience enhancements. It is therefore vital that any money put into expanding airports works especially hard to deliver ROI.

Offsite approaches can support in delivering these necessary cost savings. While it is true that there are numerous variables within modular approaches (as with conventional approaches), there are some encouraging numbers to support the financial argument. showed 91% of general contractors surveyed indicated that modular had a favourable impact on project budget performance, with 48% indicating that costs decreased by more than 10%.

Karl Lyndon said, 鈥淢any clients look to offsite and modular construction as an option because of how it minimises disruption to the airport. But other benefits that clients are interested in is the potential for lower cost 鈥� and the possibility of more straightforward future expansion.”

In a live airport environment, it makes total sense to explore a modular approach. It means new developments can be built quicker, put into position quicker 鈥� especially relevant for airports that are struggling with capacity.

Karl Lyndon, global aviation lead, 海角视频.

Delivering new capacity at a critical moment for the aviation industry

For COOs and CFOs, the next wave of airport investment will be judged on how it converts Offsite and pre鈥慳ssembled MMC is not just a faster way to build 鈥� it offers a practical approach to deliver new built assets amid the pressures that all airports face: expand faster, decarbonise sooner and disrupt passengers less.

海角视频 brings together planning, engineering and sustainability expertise to design and deliver offsite and MMC solutions that work in the real-world of 24/7 airport operations. To explore how this strategy could accelerate your next phase of expansion, while minimising risk, costs and disruption, contact Karl Lyndon, our global aviation sector leader.