You do not need to live in Dubai to know that airports are back in the news. Dubai’s new airport is taking shape, Abu Dhabi’s airport expands as one watches.

In the UK, there is renewed talk of building new airport capacity in the south-east. This might be either a third runway at Heathrow, or perhaps a new airport altogether. The current darling for this project is to put an airport on an artificial island, Boris Island, in the Thames estuary.

There is no doubt about it, airports are fundamental aviation infrastructure. But when the debate is so focused on airports, it is easy to overlook other parts of the aviation infrastructure puzzle.

Almost every night, passengers sit in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other Gulf airports, waiting for flights delayed owing to air traffic control reasons. Anyone that has does not need to be told about the importance of the least visible part of aviation infrastructure.

Aviation capacity is more than airports. Maximising the value from the investment of capital that makes up the total aviation infrastructure investment is vital.

This has two parts. First, what is the best long-term solution to meet aviation infrastructure requirements? Secondly, how do we get efficient outcomes from the systems we have?

Systems strained

With infinite aviation capacity — not just airports but also the systems that manage the airspace and the flights that go through that airspace — we would experience no delays or excessive flying. Clearly, that is not the case today. Some limitations are externally imposed, curfews for example, but others arise because the system is straining to meet the competing requirements on it.

If by using the current capacity better, one additional daily flight can be scheduled, that will directly benefit the economy. Other savings, such as savings in time for passengers, as well as passengers being able to rely on aircraft schedules, should not be underestimated. No one catches an aircraft because they are not fussed about the date or time of their arrival.

We live in interesting times. Fortunately, we have the opportunity to learn from debates going on around the world.

In the US, there is an active political debate about the merits of investing in infrastructure. In that highly politically charged environment, both sides in both houses of the Congress were able to agree funding of $32 billion (Dh117.5 billion) for the upgrade of America’s air traffic control system to the next generation of technology (known as NextGen). It will become operational over the next 10-15 years.

In Europe, volcanic ash and snow appear able to shut down most of Europe’s airspace as if on a whim. When the ash cloud did its work, that normally purely hypothetical economists’ tool, the counter-factual, became real. Suddenly, for Europeans, the consequences of not having air transport infrastructure were staring them in the face.

Augmenting capacity

Europe, like the US, is investing heavily in new generation air traffic systems aimed at increasing capacity and reliability — €5 billion (Dh23.7 billion) have been allocated to the design and acceptance of a new technology platform. In addition, considerable work has been done to rationalise and streamline the air navigation service providers each European state has established. It is this work that is proving most difficult, as European states are being required to concede, or at least share, sovereignty.

In Australia, the Minister for Transport commissioned a study to investigate the impact of Sydney’s Kingsford Smith airport being unable to meet the demand for air transport. Sure enough, the results were eye-opening.

That was no real surprise. Studies around the world have shown that costs to the economy of delays of as little as a minute translate to millions of dollars. Europe has calculated that in 2011, delays arising because of the air navigation system cost it about €7 billion.

Efficient use of existing systems has direct and immediate benefits as well as long-term ones. All airlines, facing increasing fuel bills and growing competition, will benefit from being able to use their fleets more efficiently. A reduction of 15 minutes in each flight’s block time — a measure that includes taxiing, holding on the ground and circling en route — will save time, money, fuel and emissions.

Given the time necessary for resolving airport needs — in the UK, they are talking of this being a 15-year project — maximising existing capacity is clearly a priority. The UAE as much as any other major aviation hub needs a full and fully informed debate about the value aviation infrastructure brings and how to get the best from that infrastructure. It is a challenge, but one that cannot be ducked.

— The writer is managing director of the Europe-based strategic advisory, government and public affairs firm, Aviation Advocacy.