Airport Construction and Investment Review 2022 Part 2 – the Americas, Middle East, and Africa.

In this second and final part of an overview of airport construction activities worldwide attention turns to the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.

In North America there is a concentration of investment on the major gateway airports in the US, especially those of Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. This is unlikely to be changed by the distribution of the proceeds of the Infrastructure Bill, in which the airport allocation is miserly.

By comparison, there is scarcely any investment on new airports across the continent, and that has been the case now for too long.

In Latin America infrastructure capex is often determined by the proliferation of the operating concession agreements that demand it, but circumstances are changing as previously arranged deals in Brazil come under scrutiny in the light of economic downturn and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The remaining deals in Brazil and those in other countries that might copy them will be affected by these disputes and the infrastructure requirement also.

Activity in the Middle East is focused on the airports that are bases for the ‘Big 3’ airlines, but others in the regions have ambitions not to be left behind. Africa has the capacity to surprise. There are more major projects – at least on paper – than one might expect.