Editor's Notes: The second viewpoint article in this special issue focuses on development models, offering an in-depth discussion based on a review of international experiences in the evolution of multi-airport systems, and distilling key implications for China. Against the backdrop of sustained growth in aviation market demand, an increasing number of Chinese cities have acquired both the conditions and the need to develop multi-airport systems. However, developing of such systems faces critical challenges, including the precise functional positioning of multiple airports, differentiated route network planning, and efficient operational coordination. Taking five world cities—London, New York, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo—as comparative case studies, this paper analyzes their multi-airport system development models from four perspectives: functional division of labor, air route network configuration, collaboration among operating entities, and infrastructure support. The findings indicate that these five cities have largely formed a pattern of synergistic and complementary multi-airport systems. Drawing on these international experiences, the paper proposes strategic recommendations for the planning and construction of China’s multi-airport systems along four dimensions: differentiated positioning, coordinated operations, integrated management, and orderly construction.

Editor's Notes: The third article in this special issue revisits a long-standing topic using new data, employing big data to address small questions. It explores the regularities underlying the catchment areas of multi-airport systems and passengers' airport choice, and on this basis puts forward development recommendations. Based on the market differentiation index, this study analyzes catchment competition patterns among hub airports in the Chengdu-Chongqing airport agglomeration. The research indicates that competition among hub airports exhibits a pattern of group competition and cooperation centered around cities. Competition is more intense among airports within the same metropolitan area, while the overlap of catchment areas between airports in Chengdu and Chongqing belonging to different metropolitan regions is relatively limited. Population size and distance from hinterland markets are key factors influencing passenger distribution within the multi-airport system. It is recommended to further clarify the development positioning of multi‑airport systems, strengthen both hard and soft connectivity between them to achieve a pattern of synergistic development.

Editor's Notes: The development of a multi-airport system (MAS) should not be confined to managing traffic flows but should also address how these flows can be effectively converted into local economic growth. Against this backdrop, the fourth article in this special issue reviews the spatial and socioeconomic effects of MASs and puts forward policy recommendations for the development of the MAS in Guangzhou from the perspective of airport hub-oriented economic development. With the goals of expanding domestic demand and boosting consumption, the potential of aviation hubs to promote consumption needs further exploration This paper reviews research on the economic development of aviation hubs from a consumption perspective and, combined with global airport practices, provides insights for Guangzhou to strengthen its role as a higher-level international comprehensive transportation hub, for the Guangzhou metropolitan area to advance the construction of the MAS, and for expanding the influence of Chinese culture. The Guangzhou metropolitan area can unleash its consumption potential by focusing on traffic agglomeration and consumption conversion at airport hubs, industrial agglomeration and consumption creation in airport-adjacent areas, and the integration of diverse business formats and innovation in consumption scenarios.

Editor's Notes: This article offers a theoretical lens of the politics of scale on Multi-Airport Systems (MAS), a core topic in transport geography, to further reflect on the spatial and governance logics of MAS planning and development. It serves as the culminating viewpoint in this special issue. Under the dual dynamics of the globalization of civil aviation and regional economic integration, the development of aviation hubs in megacities and their metropolitan regions has undergone a profound transition from single-airport models to MAS. MAS configuration should not be understood merely as a strategy of capacity expansion or hub redistribution. Rather, it functions as a cross-regional infrastructure governance arrangement that reproduces urban scales and regional power relations through the reorganization of airspace and route networks, the reconfiguration of accessibility, and the redistribution of environmental and social risks. Taking the Pearl River Delta Hub (Guangzhou New) Airport as a case study, this article scrutinizes how this cross-regional infrastructure reconfigures spatial relations and governance structures among Guangzhou, Foshan, and Zhaoqing. It argues that the “one city, two airports” arrangement reshapes multi-scalar relations among the national, regional, and local levels through airport infrastructure. While enhancing regional aviation service capacity, this arrangement may also generate asymmetries in power allocation, environmental risks, social risks, and cost–benefit distribution. In particular, the siting of Pearl River Delta Hub (Guangzhou New) Airport, the associated administrative boundary adjustment, and the reorganization of territorial governance reveal the potential tension between “upward concentration of benefits” and “downward displacement of risks” in the development of multi-airport systems. On this basis, the article suggests that MAS planning should move beyond a narrow logic of capacity expansion toward a more integrated governance approach. Future planning should further improve cross-regional benefit-sharing mechanisms, institutionalize noise mitigation and compensation, strengthen coordinated governance among airport systems, and enhance public participation. The article not only expands transport geography’s understanding of multi-airport systems, but also offers practical insights for airport system planning and cross-regional infrastructure governance in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.