Oliver Hebeisen – Planning Airports

Planning airports is an extraordinarily challenging task. Projects are large and super-complex, with huge budgets and tight schedules, conditions are highly volatile. Project-Teams are so big and multicultural like a modern day Babylon.

This blog brings together my reflections on the process of planning airports:
How can the planning process be improved? What are the right strategies for future airport infrastructure? Are there common believes we need to change radically?

Planning airports is an extraordinarily challenging task. Projects are large and super-complex, with huge budgets and tight schedules, conditions are highly volatile. Project-Teams are so big and multicultural like a modern day Babylon.

This blog brings together my reflections on the process of planning airports:
How can the planning process be improved? What are the right strategies for future airport infrastructure? Are there common believes we need to change radically?

Latest posts

Reinventing terminals build 30 years ago 

Reinventing terminals build 30 years ago 

Talking about airport terminals, we often focus on exciting new-build projects. But airports, especially in Europe and North America, face a much more complicated issue: terminals built in the 1970s, 80s, or 90s that now require fundamental renewal for several...

My Favorite Airport Projects 2025

My Favorite Airport Projects 2025

This article highlights the five airport projects from 2025 that for me stood out for their architectural quality and strong sense of place. Across all five projects, a clear trend emerges: airport terminal architecture is increasingly shaped by regional identity and...

The Programme Trap in Airport Terminal Planning

The Programme Trap in Airport Terminal Planning

Many Airport terminal planning projects run into budget problems because the requirements-program is created without strategy, and without really questioning existing processes. If airports first define clear strategic goals and turn some “fixed requirements” into...