One hundred years of airport experience in Europe

Air transportation infrastructure has been present in Europe for over 100 years. In that period of time, the location pattern of airports has changed. Initially, airports were established at central locations in urbanized areas. Later on, airports were being established closer to the city limits. With the growth of new suburbs, such locations became no less burdensome. Today, the building of new airports takes place at substantial distances from urbanized areas. This by no means implies that new airports are somehow disconnected from other types of services or residential areas. Airports are built in line with the concept proposed by J. D. Kasarda, whereby they serve as specialized units, with their unique morphological and functional aspects. In Europe, partly due to the limited availability of land, new airports usually replace old airports. The overall picture of the European continent's array of airports shows that they are concentrated in its western part. On the other hand, most new airports are found in Eastern and Southeastern Europe - which can be attributed to the region's effort to overcome its deficit of infrastructure.