Airports’ environmental effects and limits to growth: an integrated framework

Since the 1950s, airports have become popular transport infrastructures for the economic growth of cities and urban regions. However, increased awareness regarding their negative environmental effects poses key challenges for the future of aviation industry. In this study, we propose an integrated, co-evolutionary conceptual framework (CoFACt) to assess to what extent the tension between airport economic capacity and environmental impacts has been successfully managed. We empirically validate our framework by examining seven airports in Western Europe by using both quantitative and qualitative data. The comparative analysis of our sample shows that a high airport environmental capacity can be reached when (larger) airports are located in the vicinity to city centres, where aviation-related operations have been balanced with the needs of local communities, a low environmental capacity is found in our sample when tensions emerge between airport operations and the need to preserve surrounding environmental areas (environmental land-use conflicts). The CoFACt framework provides a structured approach to balance economic growth with environmental stewardship in airport operations. Its interdisciplinary nature and scalability also allow for continuous adaptation to evolving challenges, making it a valuable tool for sustainable airport management and community engagement.