Case studies from New Zealand about the shifting nature of airport–airline relationships

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.