Memphis International Airport is known for many things, including being fiscally conservative.

So when Insight Media, a conference organizing firm in Great Britain, reached out to the airport’s leaders to see if Memphis would be interested in hosting the Airport Cities World Conference & Exhibit, the airport authority board took a long look at the books.

"We wanted to do it, but could we afford to do it? " says Arnold Perl, chairman of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority. "We determined that we couldn't afford not to do it because what it would mean to the community. This is an international conference."

To put it lightly, the two-day conference -- which kicks off April 11 at the Peabody Hotel -- is a big deal. Airport officials are expecting it to bring in around 700 airport executives, transportation leaders and top local government officials.

Its main focus will be airport-stimulated economic development and the aerotropolis airport model. Fred Smith, chairman, CEO and president of FedEx, and Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Air Lines, will give keynote addresses at the conference.

In 2010, the conference was held in Beijing, home to 22 million residents and an airport that annually registers around 500,000 takeoffs and landings while handling 1.4 million tons of cargo.

This year's host is a little smaller than Beijing and it's all because of the "A words," Perl says. "Contrast Beijing and Memphis,” he notes. “It's not about the size of your population. It's about assets and access.".

Over two days, the conference will host more than 10 breakout sessions featuring more than 50 speakers on aerotropolis-focused topics such as non-aeronautical revenue streams, mixed land use and commercial property development and aerotropolis financial models.

The term “aerotropolis” has only been used to describe the Memphis airport for the last few years, but the principles of the concept have been in action in the Bluff City for decades. The basic concept is the use of an urban airport to plan surrounding economic development, allowing the facility to connect workers, suppliers, executives and goods to the world.

According to Larry Cox, Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority president and CEO, learning how the Memphis International Airport has adopted the model will be the topic most airport executives will be eager to hear about.

“This is the first time… that we have been able to invite the entire world to Memphis so that everyone can see our city and our airport and can appreciate what we have here,” Cox says.

John Kasarda, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor who conceived the aerotropolis concept, says airport executives attending the conference “will learn from what is taking place in Memphis because it’s the leader, and has been even if they didn’t know it.”

“Memphis has been the engine of the aerotropolis that formed in an organic manner, spontaneously and unplanned,” says Kasarda, who will discuss Memphis’ unique opportunities during remarks at the conference.

Typically, “airport cities” such as Denver are built on large tracts of land completely owned by the airport. At Memphis International, much of the land is owned by private and public organizations, making collaboration essential for the airport to thrive.

“It takes a local effort between us and the Greater Memphis Chamber and the business community working together to have an airport city,” Cox says.

The Memphis airport’s status as the only U.S. airport to operate as a hub both for cargo and passengers will also attract significant attention during the conference, organizers say.

As a hub for Delta Air Lines, Memphis International serves around 10 million passengers annually while the FedEx super hub, located at the airport, handles around 4 million metric tons of freight every year.

The Memphis conference “will be eye-opening to those who have never experienced anything like the FedEx hub,” Kasarda says. “This will give international airport executives a first-hand look at the way a global air express hub operates a peak capacity.”

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