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Case studies from New Zealand about the shifting nature of airport–airline relationships
Journal of Airport Management,
10
(4),
402-415
(2016)
Abstract
Since 1985 New Zealand has been at the forefront of airport commercialisation. Airport companies have sought ways of developing both aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenues. Driven in part by the emergence of low-cost carriers (LCC), several larger regional airports which did not have international services saw their development as a real opportunity. From 1995, the number of international airports grew quickly from the long-established three to eight, with other airport companies actively seeking such services. These regional airports frequently put into place infrastructure developments to support and encourage international services. Typically provided to Australia and the Pacific Island nations, the number of international services initially grew quickly and then reached a seemingly stable level. Due in part to the volatile nature of LCCs, however, the long-term stability of these services was mixed and after around five years they began to decline rapidly and subsequently ended at three regional airports and were severely curtailed at a fourth. This paper utilises the experiences of New Zealand’s regional airports as case studies to explore the shifting nature of airport–airline relationships from the airports’ perspective. The author reflects on the possible lessons and overall ramifications, given the magnitude and long-term nature of airport infrastructure investments.
Keywords: airport commercialisation; low-cost carriers; airport–airline relationships
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
David Lyon is currently head of the school of business studies at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic in Tauranga, New Zealand. David developed an interest in the commercialisation of airports while he was a board member for Tauranga Airport. This subsequently led to the completion of a PhD with the school of aviation at Massey University and a range of airportrelated presentations to the New Zealand Aviation Industry Association and the Australian Airports Association. He has also provided advice to a number of New Zealand airport companies. David has worked as an adjunct lecturer for the school of aviation at Massey, teaching aviation strategic management and the design and development of airports to graduate students in the Masters in aviation programme. As the bulk of his students had an active involvement in aviation, this teaching placed him in contact with many experienced aviation professions across a range of disciplines and across the world. David is a member of the Air Transport Research Society and has presented a number of papers at the annual world conferences organised by that society. He is able to provide an independent voice about both the challenges and opportunities that face the New Zealand airport system now and into the future. David has had a long-term personal interest in aviation and has been an active pilot for more than 40 years. He has also been involved in the recent establishment of the seventh New Zealand branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society in Tauranga.
