In this guest article, Marcel Langeslag, Regional Lead – Aviation, Europe at Turner & Townsend and Sam Thurgood, Director at CBRE explains how European airports are missing a significant revenue opportunity.
While airports in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific generate 47% and 43% of revenue from commercialising excess land, respectively, European airports lag behind at 39%.
This gap represents billions in unrealised potential value at a time when the sector needs diversified and resilient income streams to counter volatility in passenger demand, sustained airline pressure on aeronautical tariffs, and rising operating costs.
Airport land is among the most strategically positioned real estate in any market and when executed property it can generate highly attractive long-term returns for owners and operators. It can also deliver socio-economic benefits to local authorities, including employment, inward investment and elevated business rate contributions.
Why proximity pays
Airport land commands a premium because it combines resilient infrastructure, coordinated ownership and unrivalled connectivity.
Sites are typically over-provisioned, with high-capacity power, back-up systems and advanced digital networks suited to mission-critical operations. Planning controls and operational boundaries also restrict competing nearby development, protecting long-term value.
Crucially, proximity reduces transport time and cost for high-value goods, enabling just-in-time logistics and greater flexibility during disruption, advantages that translate directly into occupier demand.
Impact on the Industrial & Logistics sector
The UK industrial & logistics (I&L) sector has benefitted from structural tailwinds in recent years, driven by e-commerce expansion, increased focus on supply chain resilience and, consequently, strong demand for high quality locations. Investors have responded accordingly, with the sector attracting £9.1bn of investment in 2024, an 8.4% increase on 2023.
Analysis of eight major UK airports, including London Heathrow, Manchester and Southampton, shows a pronounced rental premium for nearby assets.
I&L properties located within a three-mile radius of an airport perimeter achieved rents c.61% higher per sq ft than comparable assets beyond that catchment. In absolute terms, airport-adjacent sites achieved average rents of c.£15 per sq ft, compared with roughly £9 per sq ft for assets located further away.
For third-party logistics operators and cold storage providers, immediate access to transport networks enables last-minute freight operations and flexibility. Sites outside this simply cannot replicate that connectivity, and therefore offer reduced occupier value.
A similar story for hotel assets
Hotels have long demonstrated strong adjacency value to airports. The constant flow of transitory passengers creates dependable demand. Unlike urban hotels, where guests can choose between neighbourhoods and prices, airport guests are typically time-poor and transit-dependent, prioritising proximity, reliability and efficiency over lifestyle amenities.
Airport-proximate hotels also benefit from 24/7 demand cycles, driven by early departures, late arrivals, delays and cancellations, supporting consistently high occupancy levels. In fact, in 2024 airport hotels in London averaged occupancy rates of 84.5% (national average is 77.2%).
For investors, airport hotel assets are seen as comparatively ‘cycle-resistant’. While discretionary tourism can fluctuate sharply, aviation-linked demand tends to recover structurally over time, reinforcing the long-term investment case for well-located airport sites.
In simple terms, as long as people fly, the land remains productive.
Airport land can be extremely valuable – but only when location and city integration support it
Airport real estate performance is shaped by geography, infrastructure and urban integration, and Frankfurt Airport is a good example of this.
Located less than 10km from Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, it lies in close proximity to the metropolitan centre and this adjacency drives pricing power.
The region’s highest commercial land values cluster between the central station and the airport, the city centre and the eastern riverfront. Land directly adjacent to the airport, including around CargoCity Süd, Kelsterbach and Neu-Isenburg, shows reference values of €470 to €560 per sq m, ranking among the most expensive sites outside the city centre and reflecting premiums of 35%-135% over more peripheral zones.
Not every airport will achieve Frankfurt-level premiums, and outcomes depend on how well its real estate strategy is grounded in local market dynamics, planning constraints and demand drivers.
A narrowing window: The Schiphol warning
Analysis of I&L rental data around Amsterdam Airport Schiphol highlights both opportunity and urgency. Between 2015 and 2019, Schiphol commanded a 59% premium over other Dutch logistics markets. By 2020, this moderated to 17% over Amsterdam, 28% over Rotterdam and Utrecht, and 64% over inland regions.
By 2025, the gap compressed further, with prime Amsterdam rents broadly aligning with Schiphol’s levels. Rotterdam also narrowed the differential, and second-tier markets sit much closer than a decade ago – reflecting a maturing logistics ecosystem in which the once-dominant airport premium is being shared more widely.
Those airport operators that move decisively to bring forward strategic land parcels can capture existing premiums and establish durable income streams before competitive dynamics shift further, while those that delay risk losing their locational advantage as surrounding markets strengthen.
The path forward
The pandemic demonstrated the necessity of diversified income streams. Property income has proven more resilient than retail or parking revenues and often delivers higher margins. However, unlocking this requires market analysis, risk assessment and phased development approaches that balance commercial returns with stakeholder interests; all issues which global professional services company, Turner & Townsend and, global real estate advisory company, CBRE can support.
European airports already control land with inherent strategic advantages. The critical question is how effectively and how quickly they can quantify, package and monetise that proximity premium. Those that do will not only narrow the gap with global peers, but also build more financially resilient and future-ready operations in an increasingly competitive aviation landscape.
