These are the world’s major airport hubs that catch the eye and the imagination. They are the ones who identify themselves as the “gateway” to and from a country as if the others don’t exist, the ones who tend to be perceived as glamorous, and the ones who are the subject of TV shows.
But in the background there are many examples of “second” urban airports, some of which bring gigantic amounts of passengers and shipments, but are still unknown.
This three-part report lists the top 10 as far as we can judge through passenger numbers in 2023, with a brief portrait of each. The report also briefly discusses the similarities between them and asks whether synergies can be known and used, through research, in the passenger experience.
The first brought and observed Newark Liberty, Shanghai Hongqiao and London Gatwick airports; So far, Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport, Tokyo’s Narita Airport, Beijing’s Daxing Airport, and Paris’ Orly Airport have been observed.
The third will now take a look at the airports of Bangkok Don Mueang, Seoul Gimpo and São Paulo Congonhas, and share some final thoughts.
The aim of this report is to get to know an organisation of the world’s leading “second airports” and to analyse the role they play in their own field.
Are there commonalities or synergies? Would some cooperation between them be beneficial?
The first of this report brought and tested Newark Liberty, Shanghai Hongqiao, and London Gatwick airports; So far, Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport, Tokyo’s Narita Airport, Beijing’s Daxing Airport, and Paris’ Orly Airport have been observed.
The third will now take a look at the airports of Bangkok Don Mueang, Seoul Gimpo and São Paulo Congonhas, and share some final thoughts.
Don Mueang International Airport is served by Thailand Airports.
ItArray prior to the opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2006, Bangkok’s main airport, at which point it transitioned to an advertising facility and continued to be a military base and maintenance facility, before being re-established first as a domestic airport and then as a foreign airport services when Suvarnabhumi outpaced demand.
Don Mueang is the world’s 77th airport in terms of seat capacity, 87th in terms of frequencies and 126th in terms of shipment payload.
As the graph below shows, passenger traffic has multiplied especially since 2013, when it tripled compared to last year. It went from 2. 5 million in 2009 to 41. 3 million in 2019, or 1,650%, the largest increase ever recorded through an airport in a decade.
Don Mueang is still necessarily a domestic airport (60% of its capacity); 95% of its capacity is provided through cheap airlines and 85% through non-aligned airlines. It is worn as a stand-alone and cheap facility, and has more in common with Stansted Airport (the third serving London) than with Gatwick.
Don Mueang’s roadmap shows his outward orientation towards Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The subcontinent is the destination for much of Thailand’s tourism trade, which is recovering from a severe recession similar to the COVID pandemic.
While most of the structural painting is being installed or planned at Suvarnabhumi Airport, a new Terminal 3 at Don Mueang is expected to be completed by 2029, increasing capacity to 40 MPPA.
An airport that once had no publicity in the long run is now the eighth busiest urban airport in the world, which sends a message to any airport authority that is definitely considering such a facility.
Although Seoul’s secondary airport has the hallmark of being “foreign,” 21% of its capacity is on foreign routes.
Gimpo is the 139th airport in terms of seat capacity, 161st in terms of frequencies and 102nd in terms of shipment payload.
Like Don Mueang in Bangkok, Gimpo was the former domestic gateway before Incheon Airport, opened in 2001. In the case of Gimpo, it remained an advertising hub with a national focus, which justified this decision.
It is near and west of downtown Seoul. Incheon Airport is 25 km further west and is operated through the Korea Airports Corporation (KAC), thus competing with Incheon.
KAC operates 14 airports in Korea.
Gimpo has a balance between airlines in terms of capacity and movements, with Asiana Airlines and Korean Air being the two largest airlines in terms of capacity.
At Gimpo, 56% of capacity is provided through full-service airlines and 44% through LCC airlines, although 20% is outsourced to non-aligned airlines, with five alliances represented.
There was a steady expansion of traffic during the decade 2009-2019, with the exception of a very slight decrease in 2018 and a slight decrease (-31%) in 2020, which recovered in 2021.
Then in 2022 the point of 2018 was reached. Then there was a slight drop (-4. 5%) in 2023, which started in 2024.
So there’s been choppy expansion in the last few years, but before that, the point of expansion was stable.
The airport road map below shows the barriers of the existing network.
An efficient railway in a physically small country eliminates the need for a high level of domestic air connectivity; however, Gimpo is directly connected worldwide to four major cities (Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, and Taipei) and, in the case of China plus Taipei, to the second airport there (Daxing, Hongqiao, and Taipei Shonsan).
These are major trade routes and business travelers will opt for airports closer to the city center.
A new terminal, aimed mainly for cheap passengers, is expected to be completed by 2025 at a cost of more than $850 million.
Like its counterpart, Rio de Janeiro’s Santos Dumont Airport, Congonhas is a purely domestic airport serving the largest city in Brazil and Latin America.
The airport lost its operating license in 2008, a year after a fatal crash involving a TAM Airlines flight.
The airport is 8 km (5 mi) from São Paulo’s central business district and is also favored for regional commercial traffic compared to the larger (but more remote) Guarulhos Airport.
The difference between the two is that, in October 2023, Congonhas was, despite everything, officially privatized through one of the last concession tranches in Brazil. The first dates back to 2012, when Spain’s AENA became a concessionaire for 30 years and took over state-owned operator Infraero. (Santos Dumont awaits his turn after the change of government and the return of President ‘Lula’ da Silva, and remains – at least for now – in Infraero).
There is also a third airport in the vast region of São Paulo, specifically Campinas Viracopos to the north, but it is undeniable that Congonhas is the “second”, as close as possible to the imaginable center and surrounded by residential and advertising properties.
Congonhas is the 99th largest airport in the world in terms of seat capacity, 91st in terms of frequencies and 151st in terms of shipping payload.
Congonhas has limited capacity, but continues to grow slowly, recording the highest passenger traffic in its history: just over 22 million in 2023, and after Brazil suffered a severe blow from the COVID-19 pandemic.
As you might expect, the top 3 airlines operating in Brazil (GOL, LATAM and Azul) fly to Congonhas, but with the much smaller Voepass, they are the only ones.
Low-cost carriers predominate, albeit only narrowly (56% capacity share), and there are no airlines lined up.
Again, this provides the symbol of a very specific airport for such a large city, and the roadmap below confirms this.
The foreign control of the operator with the world’s largest network does not seem to have influenced any adjustments, at least in recent months, but Congonhas is limited by: its two runways of less than 2,000 m and 1,500 m respectively; time slot restrictions; operation time restrictions; and, as mentioned above, a very small piece of land to play on.
The last renovations were carried out ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. AENA Brazil announced in October 2023 that it would invest 2 billion reais ($401. 1 million) in Congonhas airport during its 30-year concession period. The planned paintings include the structure of a new passenger terminal and that of the apron.
Other second-city airports on this list include Moscow Domodedovo, which has a privately owned element; Chicago’s Midway Airport, heavily influenced by Southwest Airlines, and the subject of two privatization attempts in 2009 and 2013; and the aforementioned Santos Dumont airport in Rio de Janeiro, practically Infraero’s last major asset, and which is being downgraded by the government in the progression of its routes in favor of the more prestigious but truly smaller international airport, Galeão-Antonio Carlos Jobim. .
There will be more such airports in the future.
Between 2024 and 2026, secondary urban airports are expected to open in Delhi and Mumbai in India, as well as Sydney, with a few others expected to remain later in Poland; in that case, Warsaw’s existing airport could simply close.
In the Philippines, there will be two more, three in total, all privately owned or controlled (and four if it comes with Clark International), which will cloud the picture, to say the least.
So, are there similarities between those airports, synergies that can even lead to cooperation between them?
In many cases, there is no dominant airline. “Domestic airlines” tend to package their facilities at the main level, and even more so since the COVID-19 pandemic, when the purpose was to involve pricing; however, those airlines have not done so. General service was still resumed at this time airport.
Apart from this, there tends to be at least a predominance of cheap capacity over short distances and, increasingly, over long distances as well.
This suggests that these airports can serve as a control platform for passenger transit agreements that increasingly make connections on their own.
In the same way, they can serve as a control bank for the progression of biometric generation from the point of arrival to the gate (or the point of departure) because the type of airport in this type of airport would possibly be different from that of the foreign airport designated as a “hub”, which is usually the most important.
These secondary airports also appear to be less available in some cases via public transport. This is the case, for example, in Paris Orly, Sabiha Gökçen International Airport and probably New York Newark.
By contrast, Don Mueang is part of a project to connect it to Suvarnabhumi Airport, the main railway station in central Bangkok, and U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya International Airport, located about 100 kilometers to the south, all of which are a high-speed rail line. .
This short report has briefly addressed the disruptions affecting secondary airports in primary cities, and a more in-depth report is needed.
These are the world’s major airport hubs that catch the eye and the imagination. They are the ones who identify themselves as the “gateway” to and from a country as if the others don’t exist, the ones who tend to be perceived as glamorous, and the ones who are the subject of TV shows.
But in the background there are many examples of “second” urban airports, some of which bring gigantic amounts of passengers and shipments, but are still unknown.
This three-part report lists the top 10 as far as we can judge through passenger numbers in 2023, with a brief portrait of each. The report also briefly discusses the similarities between them and asks whether synergies can be known and used, through research, in the passenger experience.
The first brought and observed Newark Liberty, Shanghai Hongqiao and London Gatwick airports; So far, Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport, Tokyo’s Narita Airport, Beijing’s Daxing Airport, and Paris’ Orly Airport have been observed.
The third will now take a look at the airports of Bangkok Don Mueang, Seoul Gimpo and São Paulo Congonhas, and share some final thoughts.
overarch
The aim of this report is to get to know an organisation of the world’s leading “second airports” and to analyse the role they play in their own field.
Are there commonalities or synergies? Would some cooperation between them be beneficial?
The first of this report brought and tested Newark Liberty, Shanghai Hongqiao, and London Gatwick airports; So far, Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport, Tokyo’s Narita Airport, Beijing’s Daxing Airport, and Paris’ Orly Airport have been observed.
The third will now take a look at the airports of Bangkok Don Mueang, Seoul Gimpo and São Paulo Congonhas, and share some final thoughts.
Don Mueang International Airport is served by Thailand Airports.
ItArray prior to the opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2006, Bangkok’s main airport, at which point it transitioned to an advertising facility and continued to be a military base and maintenance facility, before being re-established first as a domestic airport and then as a foreign airport services when Suvarnabhumi outpaced demand.
Don Mueang is the world’s 77th airport in terms of seat capacity, 87th in terms of frequencies and 126th in terms of shipment payload.
As the graph below shows, passenger traffic has multiplied especially since 2013, when it tripled compared to last year. It went from 2. 5 million in 2009 to 41. 3 million in 2019, or 1,650%, the largest increase ever recorded through an airport in a decade.
Bangkok Don Mueang International Airport: annual traffic, passengers/growth, 2009–2024
Source: CAPA – Thailand Aviation and Airports Center PLC.
Don Mueang is still necessarily a domestic airport (60% of its capacity); 95% of its capacity is provided through cheap airlines and 85% through non-aligned airlines. It is worn as a stand-alone and cheap facility, and has more in common with Stansted Airport (the third serving London) than with Gatwick.
Don Mueang’s roadmap shows his outward orientation towards Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The subcontinent is the destination for much of Thailand’s tourism trade, which is recovering from a severe recession similar to the COVID pandemic.
Bangkok Don Mueang International Airport – Map for the week beginning March 4, 2024
Source: CAPA – Centre de l’Aviation and OAG.
While most of the structural painting is being installed or planned at Suvarnabhumi Airport, a new Terminal 3 at Don Mueang is expected to be completed by 2029, increasing capacity to 40 MPPA.
An airport that once had no publicity in the long run is now the eighth busiest urban airport in the world, which sends a message to any airport authority that is definitely considering such a facility.
Although Seoul’s secondary airport has the hallmark of being “foreign,” 21% of its capacity is on foreign routes.
Gimpo is the 139th airport in terms of seat capacity, 161st in terms of frequencies and 102nd in terms of shipment payload.
Like Don Mueang in Bangkok, Gimpo was the former domestic gateway before Incheon Airport, opened in 2001. In the case of Gimpo, it remained an advertising hub with a national focus, which justified this decision.
It is near and west of downtown Seoul. Incheon Airport is 25 km further west and is operated through the Korea Airports Corporation (KAC), thus competing with Incheon.
KAC operates 14 airports in Korea.
Gimpo has a balance between airlines in terms of capacity and movements, with Asiana Airlines and Korean Air being the two largest airlines in terms of capacity.
At Gimpo, 56% of capacity is provided through full-service airlines and 44% through LCC airlines, although 20% is outsourced to non-aligned airlines, with five alliances represented.
There was a steady expansion of traffic during the decade 2009-2019, with the exception of a very slight decrease in 2018 and a slight decrease (-31%) in 2020, which recovered in 2021.
Then in 2022 the point of 2018 was reached. Then there was a slight drop (-4. 5%) in 2023, which started in 2024.
So there’s been choppy expansion in the last few years, but before that, the point of expansion was stable.
Seoul Gimpo International Airport: annual traffic, passengers/growth, 2009–2024
Source: CAPA – Korea Aviation Center and Airports Corporation.
The airport road map below shows the barriers of the existing network.
An efficient railway in a physically small country eliminates the need for a high level of domestic air connectivity; however, Gimpo is directly connected worldwide to four major cities (Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, and Taipei) and, in the case of China plus Taipei, to the second airport there (Daxing, Hongqiao, and Taipei Shonsan).
Seoul Gimpo International Airport Network Map for the Week of March 4, 2024
Source: CAPA – Centre de l’Aviation and OAG.
These are major trade routes and business travelers will opt for airports closer to the city center.
A new terminal, aimed mainly for cheap passengers, is expected to be completed by 2025 at a cost of more than $850 million.
Like its counterpart, Rio de Janeiro’s Santos Dumont Airport, Congonhas is a purely domestic airport serving the largest city in Brazil and Latin America.
The airport lost its operating license in 2008, a year after a fatal crash involving a TAM Airlines flight.
The airport is 8 km (5 mi) from São Paulo’s central business district and is also favored for regional commercial traffic compared to the larger (but more remote) Guarulhos Airport.
The difference between the two is that, in October 2023, Congonhas was, despite everything, officially privatized through one of the last concession tranches in Brazil. The first dates back to 2012, when Spain’s AENA became a concessionaire for 30 years and took over state-owned operator Infraero. (Santos Dumont awaits his turn after the change of government and the return of President ‘Lula’ da Silva, and remains – at least for now – in Infraero).
In the vast region of São Paulo there is also a third airport, Campinas Viracopos to the north, but the “second” is undoubtedly Congonhas, as close as possible to the center and surrounded by residential and advertising properties.
Congonhas is the 99th largest airport in the world in terms of seat capacity, 91st in terms of frequencies and 151st in terms of shipping payload.
Congonhas has limited capacity, but continues to grow slowly, recording the highest passenger traffic in its history: just over 22 million in 2023, and after Brazil suffered a severe blow from the COVID-19 pandemic.
São Paulo Congonhas Airport: annual traffic, passenger/growth, 2009-2024
Source: CAPA – Centre de l’Aviation e INFRAERO.
As you might expect, the top 3 airlines operating in Brazil (GOL, LATAM and Azul) fly to Congonhas, but with the much smaller Voepass, they are the only ones.
Low-cost carriers predominate, albeit only narrowly (56% capacity share), and there are no airlines lined up.
Again, this provides the symbol of a very specific airport for such a large city, and the roadmap below confirms this.
Sao Paulo Congonhas Airport: network map for the week of 04-March-2024
Source: CAPA – Centre de l’Aviation and OAG.
The foreign control of the operator with the world’s largest network does not seem to have influenced any adjustments, at least in recent months, but Congonhas is limited by: its two runways of less than 2,000 m and 1,500 m respectively; time slot restrictions; operation time restrictions; and, as mentioned above, a very small piece of land to play on.
The last renovations were carried out ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. AENA Brazil announced in October 2023 that it would invest 2 billion reais ($401. 1 million) in Congonhas airport during its 30-year concession period. The planned paintings include the structure of a new passenger terminal and that of the apron.
Other second-city airports on this list include Moscow Domodedovo, which has a privately owned element; Chicago’s Midway Airport, heavily influenced by Southwest Airlines, and the subject of two privatization attempts in 2009 and 2013; and the aforementioned Santos Dumont airport in Rio de Janeiro, practically Infraero’s last major asset, and which is being downgraded by the government in the progression of its routes in favor of the more prestigious but truly smaller international airport, Galeão-Antonio Carlos Jobim. .
There will be more such airports in the future.
Between 2024 and 2026, secondary urban airports are expected to open in Delhi and Mumbai in India, as well as Sydney, with a few others expected to remain later in Poland; in that case, Warsaw’s existing airport could simply close.
In the Philippines, there will be two more, three in total, all privately owned or controlled (and four if it comes with Clark International), which will cloud the picture, to say the least.
So, are there similarities between those airports, synergies that can even lead to cooperation between them?
In many cases, there is no dominant airline. “Domestic airlines” tend to package their facilities at the main level, and even more so since the COVID-19 pandemic, when the purpose was to involve pricing; however, those airlines have not done so. General service was still resumed at this time airport.
Apart from this, there tends to be at least a predominance of cheap capacity over short distances and, increasingly, over long distances as well.
This suggests that these airports can serve as a control platform for passenger transit agreements that increasingly make connections on their own.
In the same way, they can serve as a control bank for the progression of biometric generation from the point of arrival to the gate (or the point of departure) because the type of airport in this type of airport would possibly be different from that of the foreign airport designated as a “hub”, which is usually the most important.
These secondary airports also appear to be less available in some cases via public transport. This is the case, for example, in Paris Orly, Sabiha Gökçen International Airport and probably New York Newark.
By contrast, Don Mueang is part of a project to connect it to Suvarnabhumi Airport, the main railway station in central Bangkok, and U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya International Airport, located about 100 kilometers to the south, all of which are a high-speed rail line. .
This short report has briefly addressed the disruptions affecting secondary airports in primary cities, and a more in-depth report is needed.