Towards More Sustainable Planning Decisions Around Airports: Investigating Global Airport Classifications and Proposing a Four-Tiered System for Australia

Khanjanasthiti, Isara; Bajracharya, Bhishna; O’Hare, Daniel

doi:10.3390/su17125259

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Towards More Sustainable Planning Decisions Around Airports: Investigating Global Airport Classifications and Proposing a Four-Tiered System for Australia

by

Isara Khanjanasthiti

^1,*

,

Bhishna Bajracharya

²

and

Daniel O’Hare

²

¹

Department of Geography and Planning, University of New England, Parramatta, NSW 2150, Australia

²

Faculty of Society & Design, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD 4226, Australia

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Sustainability 2025, 17(12), 5259; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17125259

Submission received: 15 April 2025 / Revised: 2 June 2025 / Accepted: 3 June 2025 / Published: 6 June 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transportation and Infrastructure for Sustainability)

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Abstract

Airports differ vastly in purpose, scale, land use and activities. Although several criteria and definitions have been used to classify airports worldwide, no universally accepted classification currently exists. The lack of standardisation means an airport could fall under multiple overlapping categories, creating confusion and obscuring its actual role. Australia also lacks an official system that reflects the diverse nature of its airports. This paper addresses that gap by proposing a holistic and integrated four-tiered classification framework for Australian airports. Drawing on an international literature review and comparative policy analysis, the classification is based on four criteria: airport location, governance, network function and passenger profile. To illustrate its practical application, the system is applied to case studies of selected airports representing each tier, as well as airports that overlap between tiers. The proposed classification has the potential to enable more strategic, coordinated and sustainable infrastructure investment and land use decision-making around airports.

Keywords: airport classification; international airports; domestic airports; regional airports; remote airports; Australia

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MDPI and ACS Style

Khanjanasthiti, I.; Bajracharya, B.; O’Hare, D. Towards More Sustainable Planning Decisions Around Airports: Investigating Global Airport Classifications and Proposing a Four-Tiered System for Australia. Sustainability 2025, 17, 5259. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17125259

AMA Style

Khanjanasthiti I, Bajracharya B, O’Hare D. Towards More Sustainable Planning Decisions Around Airports: Investigating Global Airport Classifications and Proposing a Four-Tiered System for Australia. Sustainability. 2025; 17(12):5259. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17125259

Chicago/Turabian Style

Khanjanasthiti, Isara, Bhishna Bajracharya, and Daniel O’Hare. 2025. "Towards More Sustainable Planning Decisions Around Airports: Investigating Global Airport Classifications and Proposing a Four-Tiered System for Australia" Sustainability 17, no. 12: 5259. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17125259

APA Style

Khanjanasthiti, I., Bajracharya, B., & O’Hare, D. (2025). Towards More Sustainable Planning Decisions Around Airports: Investigating Global Airport Classifications and Proposing a Four-Tiered System for Australia. Sustainability, 17(12), 5259. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17125259

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Towards More Sustainable Planning Decisions Around Airports: Investigating Global Airport Classifications and Proposing a Four-Tiered System for Australia

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