Mr Boult made the announcement in a presentation titled "Shaken Not Stirred: Lessons from the Christchurch Earthquake".
The No 1 lesson airports should take on board was "the need for constant training around disaster scenarios and not just those involving aviation-related incidents", he said.
Christchurch International Airport Ltd (CIAL) had been "lucky" for many reasons, but the critical factor was the earthquake striking at 4.35am.
"The thought of all those bricks and walls and ceilings falling on people in the middle of the day doesn't bear thinking about."
A back-up emergency operations centre was being built at Christchurch Fire Station as during the earthquake, the airport's emergency-operations centre was "uninhabitable", he said.
He said constant training around incident preparedness and strong communication between airport staff were "paramount" factors for airport delegates to be aware of.
The day before the earthquake, senior personnel at Christchurch Airport were issued satellite phones.
"Communications with the media and our stakeholders was crucial," Mr Boult said.
Speaking of commerce at the airport, Mr Boult said the lack of deaths was a positive factor.
"It may seem like stating the obvious, but a disaster involving fatalities will simply halt international tourists," he said.
Mr Boult said airports should also understand the importance of debriefing staff immediately after an event occurred.
"The trauma of damaged homes, upset families, lack of sleep and the possibility of personal financial ruin have an immensely debilitating effect on the performance of personnel."
In terms of recovery, Mr Boult said CIAL had embarked on a campaign to show "business is as usual".
CIAL is building a new integrated terminal costing $237 million over the next three years.
"It's really important for people to know that 90% of the city is fine," he said.
On September 4, the 7.1-magnitude earthquake occurred in Canterbury at 4.35am.
Commercial flights resumed from Christchurch Airport at 1.30pm the same day.
