The airfield is a crucial element at any airport. While it doesn’t typically receive the same public attention as a terminal, parking or even concessions, it’s the single most important piece of a complex puzzle. After all, there is no airport without a runway.

When we first started publishing Airport Improvement in 2008, the plan was to include a runway story in every issue. At the time, we felt this would be adequate coverage. Why would the airfield deserve more attention? Other media (including airport publications) rarely seemed to cover runways, ramps and other airfield assets. For us, devoting a story in every issue to what was happening on the airfield seemed adequate, if not generous.

But within a year of our launch, we noticed that we had a glut of unpublished project nominations for fascinating airfield projects. Not only that, but a high percentage of our advertisers were consultants and suppliers that supported runways and other airfield projects. Our audience was asking for more.

So, we started including an additional runway story in every issue. But that wasn’t enough, either. Our backlog of strong story recommendations continued to grow, and more great ideas continued to flood in. We needed to do something to meet the demand of the airport industry. That’s when we decided to devote an entire issue to all things airfield; and the Runway & Ramp Special Edition was born. Having a special edition didn’t mean we would only cover the topic once a year in that issue. This was in addition to the airfield coverage in all of our other issues throughout
the year.

It’s been said that change and innovation come about from listening to what’s being said. Thanks go out to all of you for speaking up. This special edition is the direct result of what you have been telling us. We’ll continue to listen.

Cheers!