Airport Planning and Management MSc

To provide you with the knowledge, understanding and skills in the design of airports and associated facilities in respect to contemporary commercial requirements.

• • Airport capacity on land- and airside.
• • Airfield configuration including runway, apron and taxiways.
• • Terminal layouts.
• • Surface access design.
• • Baggage handling.
• • IT systems in terminal design.
• • Aircraft performance and airport design.
• • Impact of changing industry requirements on airport design.
• • Passenger flow simulation.
• • Case studies in airport design.

On successful completion of this module you will be able to: 

1. 1. Demonstrate a clear understanding and knowledge of the fundamental principles of sustainable airport design within the context of climate change, constantly evolving airline requirements and radical alterations to airport surface access as well as international and local aviation policies.
2. 2. Explore and explain the impact of aircraft performance and characteristics onto the design of the airport infrastructure, including traditional keroseine-, SAF-, electric- and hydrogen-powered fixed-wing aircraft and eVTOL.
3. 3. Assess, measure and calculate the capacity of airport sub-systems, and model passenger flows using design simulation software.
4. 4. Propose future requirements of airports in response to their business diversification and the need to integrate new forms of passenger services supporting the evolution of the airport business model.
5. 5. Examine and evaluate the ability of airport design to respond to changing requirements within the global economy and growing passenger expectations.

To provide students with knowledge, understanding and skills in airport operations.

• Airport management systems
• Airside and landside operations
• Airport social media
• Control of emergencies and contingency planning
• Airport security
• Airport safety management systems and risk assessment
• Airport customer service

To ensure that upon completion of the module, you will have acquired the required level of knowledge and skills to successfully tackle real-world airport strategic planning problems.  

• • Site selection for new airports,
• • Airport Master Planning,
• • Flexible strategic planning,
• • Airport policy and the planning process,
• • Airport catchment areas and ground transport access,
• • Airport competition and connectivity,
• • Digital transformation and strategy,
• • Airport stakeholder relations,
• • The influence of airline behaviour on airport planning,
• • The impact of sustainability on the definition of airport strategy,
• • Case studies in airport strategic planning,

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. 1. Demonstrate a clear understanding of the process of airport capacity planning and master planning within the context of changing airline industry structure, national airport policy goals, and planning constraints.
2. 2. Compare, analyse and assess different options and scenarios for new airports or existing airports and understand the interaction of key variables in the decision-making process.
3. 3. Understand the impact of airline market dynamics on long-term airport strategic planning.
4. 4. Assess critically airport competition dynamics.
5. 5. Appraise and critique the work of other practitioners and specialists, communicate effectively, in written form, research work produced, and complete coursework to set deadlines.

To ensure that when students complete the module they will have received the required level of knowledge and relevant sets of skills in order to apply these competently to help them solve airport business management problems.

• Fundamental principles in airport economics
• Airport aeronautical charges & airport-airline relations
• Air cargo for airport managers
• Airport retail, F&B & media sales
• Contract models for airport commercial business processes
• Commercial management of ground transportation
• Airport costs, out-sourcing and the business of capital investment
• Airline network strategy
• Airport marketing and route development
• Introduction to Finance
• Financial statements and ratios
• Investment appraisal
• Airport competition and strategy
• Airport economic regulation
• Airport ownership and privatisation
• The airport ground handling business
• Measuring airport business performance
• Case studies in digitalisation, out-sourcing, retail, strategy and market research from visiting lecturers
• Group exercises

To provide a sound comprehension of how legal concepts and regulatory policies affect and apply to the global air transport industry, considering its unique nature.

• • International regulation.
• • EU regulatory policy.
• • Introduction to international aviation law.
• • The 1944 Chicago Convention.
• • Geopolitics and aviation.
• • Airline liability.
• • The bilateral system.
• • EU competition law.
• • Impact of deregulation/liberalisation.
• • Safety regulations ICAO.
• • Safety regulations EASA/H&S.
• • Environmental regulation.

On successful completion of this module you will be able to: 

1. 1. Evaluate the contemporary relevance and ongoing effectiveness of the 1944 Chicago Convention for global aviation.
2. 2. Assess and explore the role of geopolitics in global aviation, including how international relations and geographical location impact and shape the airline industry.
3. 3. Identify and explore core aviation law theories, concepts and debates and assess how these intersect within a multidisciplinary context.
4. 4. Detail and analyse how changes in economic regulation and competition law have influenced the evolution of air transport markets around the world today.
5. 5. Develop and apply a systematic understanding of important aspects of the Warsaw and Montreal Conventions and be able to apply these to solving real-world and scenario-based cases concerning legal liability.

To ensure that upon completion of the module, you will have received the required level of knowledge and relevant skills to tackle contemporary air transport environmental planning challenges.  

• • Environmental policy and politics.
• • The economics of decarbonisation .
• • Sustainable Aviation Fuels.
• • Sustainable Propulsion Systems.
• • Sustainable Airport Master Planning.
• • Calculating aircraft and surface access emissions.
• • Airport Local Air Quality.
• • Contrails and non-CO2 impacts.
• • Climate hazard mitigation and adaptation for air transport.
• • Airport noise mitigation strategies.
• • Sustainability Reporting.
• • Noise annoyance and Community Relations.
• • Circular economic principles in aviation.
• • Combatting of wildlife trafficking in aviation.
• • Case studies.
• • Role-play exercise.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. 1. Demonstrate an appreciation of the key features and characteristics of the environmental externalities of air transport at varying spatial scales.
2. 2. Critically analyse the various technical, commercial, economic and political dimensions of environmental impact mitigation.
3. 3. Identify current and future environmental policy and regulatory controls on the air transport industry and assess trade-offs between competing priorities.
4. 4. Apply different techniques for measuring and calculating the environmental impacts of air transport.
5. 5. Develop and communicate an environmental strategic plan for air transport.

Obtain the theory and knowledge, skills of ‘demand forecasting’, and apply to the practical work for the air transport industry.

• • Introduction to air traffic forecasting.
• • Air travel demand.
• • Market analysis.
• • Trend analysis.
• • Time series analysis.
• • Market share forecasts.
• • Long term forecasts.
• • Evaluating forecasting results.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. 1. Appraise key factors affecting demand for air travel.
2. 2. Analyse data and select the most appropriate model to produce a traffic forecast.
3. 3. Evaluate forecasting methods and interpret the results with confidence.
4. 4. Appraise and critique the work of other practitioners and specialists.
5. 5. Communicate effectively, in written form, the research work produced.

To provide a sound comprehension of the how marketing concepts and theories can be applied to the airline industry, considering it's unique nature. 

• • Introduction to Marketing.
• • Consumer Behaviour.
• • Market Segmentation.
• • Airline Customer Experience.
• • Airline and airport products.
• • Branding, Promotional communication and loyalty.
• • Distribution.
• • Airport marketing.

On successful completion of this module you will be able to: 

1. 1. Describe the characteristics of the main segments of airline and airport markets.
2. 2. Identify and explain the key issues in planning airline products and the importance of product differentiation.
3. 3. Assess the links between advertising, promotion, branding and customer loyalty.
4. 4. Assess current issues in airline distribution.
5. 5. Evaluate and apply the work of other practitioners and specialists.

To give the tools needed to perform a detailed Strategic overview of an Airline.

• • Introduction to strategic airline management.

• • Core concepts of strategic management.

• • Performing strategic level analysis.

• • Strategies used to respond to competition and competitive advantage.

• • Airline business diversification strategies.

On successful completion of this module you will be able to: 

1. 1. Evaluate and apply strategic management concepts and analytical tools to the airline industry.
2. 2. Assess how different strategies impact the competitiveness of airlines.
3. 3. Synthesise information from a variety of sources to support research on airline strategies.
4. 4. Appraise and critique strategies applied by airlines.

To provide you with the fundamental skills required to manage operational safety within the aviation industry.


View the details for this module 

• • The fundamentals of a Safety Management System, and introduction to associated guidance material provided by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and other State safety regulatory bodies.
• • Safety data, safety information and analyses; including reporting systems, investigation and Flight Data Monitoring (FDM).
• • Hazard identification and risk management, including an introduction to Enterprise Risk Management (ERM).
• • Safety performance and safety health; including guidance on audits and safety promotion.
• • Safety organisations, including guidance on effective management of safety teams.

On successful completion of this module you will be able to: 

1. 1. Describe the fundamental concepts behind Safety Management Systems (SMS), as defined by ICAO and other regulatory bodies.
2. 2. Select and implement techniques for the identification, quantification and management of hazards and risks.
3. 3. Critically assess strategies for developing and enhancing safety culture including the role of leadership, structure and reporting systems.
4. 4. Identify techniques for measuring safety performance

To provide you with an understanding of the developments in technology and digitalisation in the airline and airport sectors and how this impacts their business and operations.

• • Technological developments within the aviation industry.
• • Digital transformation processes.
• • Data sources in aviation management.
• • Data analytics in the context of aviation management.
• • The effects of e-commerce in air transport.
• • Social media.
• • Digital developments in aviation operations.

On successful completion of this module you will be able to:

1. 1. Examine the characteristics and key drivers of technology in the aviation industry.
2. 2. Assess the potential applications of technology and the digital transformation process in the aviation industry.
3. 3. Appraise the role of e-commerce and social media in the aviation industry.
4. 4. Identify and judge the sources of data and applications of data analytics in the context of aviation management.
5. 5. Examine the digital developments in airline and airport management.

To ensure that when you complete the module you have received the required level of knowledge and relevant sets of skills in order to apply these competently to help you solve business and management problems in regional aviation.

• • Regional airline economics.
• • Regional airline strategy.
• • Regional airline network planning.
• • Regional aircraft performance and economics.
• • Regional airline fleet planning.
• • Management of regional airports and ATC.
• • Subsidies, Public Service Obligations, and other support mechanisms.
• • Case studies and practitioner visiting online lectures .

On successful completion of this module you will be able to:

1. 1. Discuss the key economic and business features that are common to regional airlines and evaluate how these differ from other airline business models.
2. 2. Critically analyse and appraise business problems relating to regional airline strategy and network planning.
3. 3. Critically evaluate the performance characteristics of regional aircraft in the context of regional airline fleet planning and the implications on business performance.
4. 4. Critically evaluate the common economic and business challenges faced by airports and providers of ATC in regional markets.
5. 5. Critically analyse and appraise policy challenges relating to the use of essential air service support mechanisms that are often applied to remote / peripheral regional markets.