In April 2010, volcano Eyjafjalla caused a scenario that took everyone by surprise. 100,000 flights had to be cancelled, millions of passengers could not be checked in. According to the International Air Transport Association losses of revenue of airlines amounted to 1.3 bn Euro.

Supply chains were disrupted in the automotive and other industries, causing production downtimes. Governments, airlines, logistics service providers – did they successfully put their contingency plans into action?
The need for long-term planning applies to the development of transport infrastructure in particular. Ports, airports, roads, railroads, bridges, tunnels – they all have in common that their life cycles span many decades, if not centuries. This requires long-term forecasting of the demand for transport infrastructure, its impact on the economy and the environment. The finance needed for construction, operation and maintenance also needs to be planned over a long time-frame. In this report, we take a closer look at some of the key issues in these areas.

This study was prepared by a team of experts from the Transportation & Logistics industry practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Supply Chain Management Institute at the European Business School.