AVIATION PERSPECTIVES
Elevating the airport horizon: Air service development as a strategic engine for growth
Douglas Nyekete
The anticipated rise in competition among airports is redefining the economics of aviation infrastructure and demanding sharper strategic thinking across the airport business landscape. Airports can no longer rely on geography or legacy traffic flows; success now depends on deliberate, data-driven positioning.
To remain competitive, airport management must implement forward-looking strategic initiatives anchored on clearly defined competitive strengths. Central to this transformation is Air Service Development (ASD)—not as an auxiliary function, but as a core, long-term strategic commitment.
Countries are therefore expected to craft national ASD frameworks that deliberately target both domestic and international markets. In today’s global aviation ecosystem, an airport is no longer a static piece of infrastructure. It is a dynamic commercial enterprise. To thrive, airports must transition from passive recipients of airline capacity to active architects of their own growth—retaining routes, attracting new carriers, and expanding their global footprint through evidence-based market development.
Advancing Liberalisation Through Market Development
Across Africa, ASD is increasingly aligned with continental liberalisation initiatives championed by the African Union. These initiatives promote fair competition and open skies policies designed to unlock tourism, trade, and connectivity growth.
Despite accounting for roughly 12% of the global population, Africa contributes less than 2% of worldwide air traffic. In 2024, the continent recorded approximately 235 million passengers compared to about 9.5 billion globally—an imbalance that underscores the urgency of coordinated air service strategies.
Research by the World Bank highlights aviation’s outsized importance to African economies: about 20% of tourism jobs on the continent are supported by air arrivals, compared to just 4% in North America. Aligning ASD strategies with open-skies frameworks could therefore deliver transformative economic gains.
Zimbabwe’s own Air Service Development Plan reflects this approach, with dozens of Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASAs) already concluded, including partnerships with major European tourism source markets such as Germany, the United Kingdom, and France.
Air Service Development as a Business-Level Strategy
At the airport level, ASD functions as a driver of core business strategies—growth, diversification, and competitive positioning.
Studies conducted in major aviation hubs show that airports are particularly suited to growth strategies centred on product differentiation, market penetration, and network expansion. ASD provides the operational mechanism to execute these strategies.
ASD and Market Penetration
Market penetration involves expanding an airport’s share within existing markets using current infrastructure and services. This is achieved through:
Enhanced service quality and passenger experience
Competitive airport charges
Coordinated destination marketing
Vertical alliances with airline partners
Such collaboration is essential to airport survival. The success of Singapore Changi Airport illustrates how strong alignment between airport strategy and national carriers can create an integrated global network and sustained competitive advantage.
ASD and Market Development
Market development refers to entering new markets with existing aviation products—routes, aircraft types, or service models. In Africa, this often requires navigating high operating costs, regulatory fragmentation, and demand uncertainty.
A critical enabler is the use of Fifth Freedom Rights, allowing airlines to transport passengers between two foreign countries as part of a service linked to their home base. These rights make multi-stop African routes commercially viable and stimulate intra-African connectivity.
Airports and airlines increasingly collaborate on joint route-creation initiatives, including:
1. Co-branded marketing campaigns across digital and traditional media
2. Frequent-flyer integration to build passenger loyalty
3. Seasonal incentive programmes to stimulate demand
4. Airport-based promotional support to raise route visibility
Rather than competing head-to-head, airlines now favour alliances and codeshare agreements. African carriers such as Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways have demonstrated how hub-and-spoke models, partnerships, and joint ventures expand reach while managing risk.
Incentives, Regulation and Fair Competition
African airports increasingly deploy incentive schemes—landing-fee waivers, marketing support funds, and start-up discounts—to attract new services. However, these must comply with international aviation principles requiring:
Non-discrimination among airlines
Cost-related airport charges
Transparency in incentive structures
Consultation with users
A well-designed ASD programme typically offers 12–24 months of risk-sharing support to allow new routes to mature without distorting fair competition.
ASD and Product Development
ASD is also a catalyst for product development. New routes increase connectivity, stimulate passenger growth, and enhance financial sustainability.
Airports can strengthen route development through partnerships with:
Tourism boards for joint destination marketing
Travel agencies to create bundled travel packages
Event organisers to promote conference and festival traffic
Corporate clients to drive consistent business travel demand
Such collaboration transforms airports into integrated economic platforms rather than transit points.
Route Development as a Growth Multiplier
Route development encompasses targeted marketing activities aimed at attracting, retaining, or optimising air services. These include airline engagement campaigns, bespoke market intelligence reports, and participation in global route forums.
Effective ASD initiatives can:
Attract new airlines and destinations
Expand frequencies on existing routes
Reduce seasonality
Encourage aircraft upgrades
Lower fares through competition
Each new service feeds a virtuous cycle—greater traffic stimulates demand, which in turn attracts further connectivity.
Strategic Partnerships and Airport Twinning
Airports are also embracing international partnerships to accelerate development. For example, Airports Company South Africa established a twinning arrangement with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, fostering knowledge exchange and catalysing major cargo infrastructure investment valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.
Such collaborations demonstrate how ASD can unlock capital flows, logistics capacity, and trade linkages.
Connectivity as the Ultimate Competitive Advantage
An accessible, well-connected airport strengthens its competitive standing relative to neighbouring gateways. Expanded passenger and cargo networks:
Generate direct aeronautical revenues
Increase non-aeronautical income streams
Enhance regional trade and tourism
Raise the airport’s broader commercial value
Ultimately, a robust route network is not merely operational—it is the foundation of an airport’s commercial success and its integration into the global economy.
A Strategic Imperative for Africa and Zimbabwe
The full implementation of continental liberalisation frameworks, aligned with national ASD strategies, has the potential to build a resilient aviation sector across Africa. For Zimbabwe, a committed ASD agenda can position its airports as regional hubs while advancing national development objectives and strengthening participation in intra-African trade.
Airports that embrace Air Service Development as a strategic discipline—rather than a marketing afterthought—will define the next era of aviation growth on the continent.
Douglas Nyekete is a finance and airport operations specialist, a Registered Public Accountant, and holder of an MBA in Aviation Management, an MBA, and a BCom in Accounting. He is also an Associate Member of the Chartered Governance and Accountants Institute. He writes in his own capacity.
