A collaborative approach to business continuity and organisational resilience when dealing with a major crisis, such as COVID-19

Most businesses are familiar with the notion of planning and developing contingency measures for foreseeable adverse situations or events that could affect their capability to deliver services or achieve their short-, medium- or long-term objectives. Not that many businesses, however, are fully prepared to face major or catastrophic events that are hard to foresee and predict. The aviation industry is currently dealing with the unforeseen and major impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic. It is having to adapt and review established contingency plans as well as come up with new ways to mitigate the significant operational and economic impacts of this unpr ecedented situation. Airport operators have a key role to play in this situation coordinating the overall business continuity and resilience of the airport system. This paper explores some of the key aspects of tackling business continuity planning from an airport system approach, dealing not only with operational resilience but also with economic sustainability, and provides a case study of the appr oach taken at Geneva Airport in Switzerland.