The airport as borderland: gateways for some, barriers for others

Once, during a layover at the Dubai International Airport — a place of soaring glass walls, endless luxury storefronts, and glittering duty-free displays — I saw a woman quietly crying in a corner, clutching a folder of documents. As travelers browsed jewelry, perfumes, and electronics under the hypnotic glow of LED accent lights, she seemed suspended in another reality entirely. Was she facing deportation? Being denied entry? Forced from the aircraft she’d been certain would carry her away? 

Today, such uncertain scenarios seem more and more plausible. As of last year, some 123 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced due to conflict, persecution, or disaster, including more than eight million asylum seekers whose refugee status awaits legal resolution. What’s more, those displaced have increasingly found themselves stranded in airports, caught between legal gray zones and international bureaucracy. 

And yet, as more people are getting stuck, even more are passing through. Worldwide, the demand for air travel is projected to increase 5.8% this year, says the International Air Transport Association, even amid geopolitical shakiness. And last year, an estimated 4.8 billion passengers (some repeats) took to the skies. 

It’s this tension — between grounding and flying, peril and promise — that makes the airport the ultimate borderland. The question for those of us working in aviation design, then, is what kind of borderland do we want to build: one that opens gateways, or one that reinforces barriers? 

Immersive designs as gateways

Airports connect economies, facilitate cultural exchange, and enable rapid international travel. Design choices embody the priorities of host nations while offering travelers a glimpse into a world where borders seem to dissolve within the architecture itself. 

Singapore’s Changi Airport, for example, is not just a gateway but a destination all its own, complete with indoor waterfalls, butterfly gardens, and immersive digital art installations. Moving through the environment feels less like waiting for a flight and more like stepping into a carefully curated vision of a utopian future where technology, nature, and architecture blend seamlessly.

Doha’s Hamad International Airport offers a different kind of futuristic spectacle: Gargantuan public art pieces like Urs Fischer’s 23-foot bronze-sculpted teddy bear punctuate vast concourses of gleaming glass and steel. Here, the scale of the architecture, combined with luxury shopping and cutting-edge digital systems, creates the impression of a global crossroads designed for efficiency and prestige. 

Often, an airport’s arrival hall adds to the immersion. The sweeping wooden ceilings of Oslo’s Gardermoen Airport evoke Norway’s forests; the lush indoor gardens of Changi symbolize the city-state’s dedication to sustainability. 

Technological advances as barriers

Airports are designed for free-flowing, mass movement but also for the strictest of control. A traveler may enter an airport in one country but not truly “arrive” in another until they have cleared security, customs, and immigration. 

Many of us have watched someone get pulled aside for a “random” security check (that rarely seems random). In the United States, for example, passengers marked with the code “SSSS” (Secondary Security Screening Selection) on their boarding passes are flagged for extra questioning and searches. Officially, these checks can be triggered by factors like one-way tickets, last-minute bookings, or traveling from “high-risk” regions, but reports and traveler accounts suggest they disproportionately affect certain groups, such as Muslims and LGBTQ+ passengers. 

We also likely have witnessed families stuck in transit zones, waiting for bureaucratic decisions that determine whether they can move forward or be sent back. One widely reported case is that of Hassan Al Kontar, a Syrian refugee who spent more than half a year stranded in Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s transit zone before finally receiving asylum in Canada. Cases like his show how airports, for all their futuristic promise, can also reveal the sharpest edges of global inequality.

Adding to the fray are facial recognition, biometric passports, and AI-driven security measures that promise efficiency but raise concerns around privacy, equity, and access. If airports become entirely digital, will that make travel easier, or will it create another layer of complexity for those without the right documents, the right data, or even the right face? 

Airport borderland futures

Some experts predict a future where national borders become more fluid within certain regions, scaling biometric boarding and pre-cleared, visa-free travel zones. Initiatives like the Known Traveler concept, supported by organizations like the World Economic Forum, envision a world where passengers are screened in advance through secure digital identities, minimizing border friction. This could redefine what it means to “cross a border,” with a traveler’s identity verified long before they get to the airport. 

But what if it also means that entire groups of people are quietly filtered out of the system before they even reach the airport? What happens to asylum seekers, refugees, and others fleeing crises if their digital profiles mark them as “risky” before they’ve even had a chance to plead their case?

What if, instead of keeping people out, or locking them in, we could welcome them through?

Building on initiatives like Airbnb’s provision of over 1.4 million nights of free housing to refugees, airports could serve as sanctuaries for those in liminal spaces. Aside from using their considerable facilities for housing, food, and clothing, designers could integrate meaningful micro-interventions, such as accessible information kiosks, multilingual signage, and dedicated spaces for legal aid within terminals that help those navigating complex immigration processes. By prioritizing human dignity and support, we could transform airports from transit points into humanitarian infrastructure that fosters mobility, migration, and connection.

Editor’s note: Read our “Design Juice” interview with Mahajan for more of her insight into airport tech, contextual design, and the path toward success for young immigrant designers in aviation.