On March 14th 2025 SusAir officially launched a new internal research initiative titled “Adaptive Airport Systems 2025–2028” at its headquarters in Astana. This multi-year program is led by the company’s Systems Innovation Group and aims to pioneer technologies that enable future airports to adapt in real time to environmental social and operational variables.

The announcement was made during a closed internal event attended by SusAir’s senior management design engineers and research fellows. The initiative reflects SusAir’s ongoing commitment to knowledge-led infrastructure development grounded in data experimentation and long-term system thinking.

Core Focus Areas

The Adaptive Airport Systems program will focus on four interconnected domains:

1. Behavior-informed zoning systems that adapt spatial arrangements to passenger typologies and movement trends
2. Energy-responsive terminal envelopes designed to optimize performance across different climatic regions
3. Integrated robotics for logistics and maintenance in high-traffic terminals
4. Predictive risk modeling for resilience and disruption response

Ms. Pham Ngoc Anh Thi Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Susdev Group emphasized the strategic role of the new program:
“Designing airports for the future means designing with uncertainty in mind. Our in-house research efforts will allow us to shape environments that respond intuitively to users and conditions not in theory but in measurable reality.”

Research in Motion

The initiative will be coordinated by the Systems Innovation Group under the leadership of Dr. Timur Sarsenbayev. The group has already begun early simulations on envelope behavior in extreme climate zones with a particular focus on cold-region aerodynamics and solar energy efficiency.

In parallel the robotics team is testing autonomous systems for back-of-house functions such as baggage handling equipment maintenance and service flow coordination. These prototypes are being built within a modular testing lab located in SusAir’s R&D wing in Astana.

Looking Ahead

SusAir plans to release quarterly technical reports from this initiative starting Q2 2025 which will be made publicly available in its Insights section. The company also intends to share key breakthroughs at international summits and contribute findings to open knowledge platforms in infrastructure and aviation.

With this program SusAir is strengthening its position as a fully integrated research-design organization committed to building smarter more responsive and resilient airport systems for the decades ahead.