About
Airfront.21
 Airfront.21
is your Internet
resource on
APMs, so common at airports and
airfronts - but relevant to all urban mobility. Airports are
fast becoming
mini-cities
unto themselves.
This is a new
phenomenom,
and there are
few dedicated
sources of information
about their
commercial dimensions.
Airfront.21
strives to be
just that.
We offer professional
planners around
the world up-to-date
information
relevant to
airports, local
circulation
systems including
APMs, airfront
development
statistics and
trends, and
much more. APMs
now operate
at some 40 airports
around the world,
and are underway
at another dozen.
To get
full data on
them, look at
the Airports
Database in
the Products
and Services
section. Detailed
project information
is available
in the Case
Studies. Hard
data for informed
decision-making
can be obtained
in the Benchmarking
Studies.
About
the evolution
of Airports
into Airfronts
 Have
you noticed
that there are
more and more
airport-oriented
businesses just
outside the
fences that
secure the runway,
terminals and
other buildings
on airport property?
First, there
were park+fly
lots and motels
catering to
people with
early morning
departures or
stranded due
to grounded
flights. Many
of these motels/hotels
now have well-used
meeting rooms,
ballrooms, business
services, and
other function
facilities.
Common now too
is an array
of competing
car rental facilities.
Flying in, renting
a car, and driving
to far-flung
destinations
is increasingly
becoming the
way to do business
in the U.S.
Less visible
outside the
airport fence
are all the
freight handling
and cargo logistics
activities.
For people who
travel a lot
for personal
reasons, easy
access to the
airport is more
important these
days. The airport
is now a convenient
meeting and
shopping place.
 Urban
planners have
started to notice
this. Around
the airport – so
crucial to the
economic of
their region
as a gateway
to the increasingly
global economy – an
airfront commercial
district has
sprung up. Its
employment often
rivals that
in the struggling
old downtown
district. Little
research has
been done on
this new land
use phenomenon.
Few have explored
the potential
for rationalizing
haphazard development
to create an
economic development
zone for attracting
dynamic firms
with great growth
potential.
Unexplored
Zoning and Land
Use Issues
There
are many practical
questions. Does
a hotel near
an airport,
for example,
need as many
parking spaces
as one at a
highway location?
Does it matter
whether or not
the hotel will
operate a van
service to and
from the airport?
Will it make
sense to require
the hotel to
participate
in a consolidated
transport service
run by and for
a group of competing
and complementary
facilities?
Does an APM
make sense?
Could one be
implemented
to run on a
profitable basis?
We all know
that hotels,
motels, meeting/show
facilities,
car rental operations,
logistic firms,
high-tech training
and repair services,
and many other
commercial organizations
that feed or
depend heavily
on aviation
have proliferated
along highways
leading to major
airports. Their
needs and parameters,
however, have
received little
attention from
professional
planners and
local officials
-- except by
those dealing
with aircraft
noise and ground
equipment air
pollution.
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