The paradox of the skies

March 2020: airports empty out, runways turn into deserted stretches, terminals echo with silence. After the initial moments of shock, experts begin to speak of a “new normal” and predict the collapse of a sector that would never fully recover, fueled also by the rise of smart working and remote work. These were apocalyptic forecasts: air traffic would take decades to return to 2019 levels — if it ever could. The pandemic, it was said, would permanently change our models of social interaction, work, travel, health, and education. But above all, it would change mobility — especially air travel.

Five years later, reality hits with a force no one had foreseen, and in the opposite direction. The latest data, presented and analyzed in this issue of DomusAir, show a steady growth in air traffic that has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. In Europe, the sector has registered significant increases compared to pre-pandemic levels, while in Italy, major airports like Rome Fiumicino have seen a substantial rise in passenger numbers, with growth projections that are unexpectedly high yet still insufficient.

Here’s the point: predicting a long-term halt delayed the redefinition of airports, which are now struggling to handle the number of passengers they are forced to accommodate and manage. If authorities and businesses had based their planning on data, the delay would not have escalated into an emergency.

From an architectural and design perspective, we are witnessing a stark contradiction. Contemporary airports were conceived as cathedrals of modernity: fluid, bright spaces where architecture was meant to facilitate movement and reduce travel stress. Terminals designed like glass-and-steel jewels, intended to celebrate the ritual of flight. These stellar architectures now prove inadequate when faced with traveler volumes that defy every forecast. Architectural beauty clashes with practical functionality, giving rise to an aesthetic of chaos that no designer could have envisioned.

What we are experiencing is not simply a return to normality, but something entirely new. Once the fear of the pandemic faded, it was replaced by an accelerated desire for mobility, transforming travel from routine into a regained privilege. International traffic has shown marked growth, a sign that borders are no longer perceived as barriers but as invitations to be crossed. Low-cost airlines have democratized access to the skies, while new routes are proliferating at a pace that infrastructure can no longer keep up with.

The result is a level of congestion that goes beyond mere overcrowding: according to European projections, a growing number of airports risk reaching critical levels of saturation. Delays are multiplying, with extreme cases of passengers stranded for hours inside terminals. According to the European Commission, without appropriate interventions to manage airport congestion, a significant percentage of flights could be delayed by 2030.  

The challenge for architects, designers, and engineers is unprecedented. It is no longer about beautifying existing spaces or optimizing flows, but about rethinking the very concept of the airport. We need modular architectures, capable of expanding and contracting according to seasonal flows. Predictive technologies that anticipate traffic peaks. Spaces that are not only functional but therapeutic, able to transform forced waiting into a regenerative experience.

Covid did not kill the desire to fly — it amplified it. The prophecies of 2020 proved spectacularly wrong, leaving us with inadequate infrastructure and a demand for mobility that is growing exponentially. This is the paradox of the skies: just when our need to fly is greatest, our airports are falling apart around us. The true challenge of contemporary design is no longer to create beautiful spaces, but resilient ones — capable of adapting to a future that will always be more unpredictable than we can imagine.