Abstract
Background: The economic deregulation of the airline industry in South Africa in 1991 was a landmark event and brought about various changes in the air transport market, both locally and internationally. One important after-effect of deregulation was the entry of low-cost carriers (LCCs) in 2001, which increased competition in the market and offered passengers the freedom to choose between full-cost carriers and LCCs. It is generally accepted that LCCs have been very successful across the globe, and the main reason for this lies in their simplified lower cost business models. One way of achieving lower costs is for LCCs to operate from secondary or alternative airports. This trend is observed in most regions of the world. In South Africa, and more specifically the Gauteng province, Lanseria International Airport is considered as an alternative airport to OR Tambo International Airport (the main international airport of South Africa and located about 30 km east of the Johannesburg Central Business District [CBD]). Currently, two LCCs operate from this airport with a third LCC airline indicating that it will shortly begin operations from this airport.Objectives: The research presented here reflects on the aspects passengers consider when selecting a secondary airport for their travel needs. It also compares the research findings of passenger attributes when choosing Lanseria Airport as a secondary airport in 2010 to a similar study in 2013 after another LCC commenced operations from the airport.Method: In this exploratory research a face-to-face survey was used as the quantitative data collection method in order to identify the factors that influenced passengers’ airport choice decisions at Lanseria International Airport.Results: From this research it emerged that when airports in a metropolitan area are close to one another, one of the main considerations for passengers is access time when selecting an airport. Even after a second LCC started operating from Lanseria International Airport, the attributes passengers regard as important in their decision to fly from the airport remained unchanged.Conclusion: The aim of the research is to gain a deeper understanding of the factors involved in secondary airport selection and, building on this knowledge, to assist airport owners and managers in positioning their airports in a multi-airport competitive environment. Similarly, the findings of the research could assist airlines in their decision-making process to operate from secondary airports
Highlights
Air travel has generally been regarded as the fastest growing mode of transport during the 20th century (Wensveen 2011)
The respondents were asked to complete a forced 4-point Likert-type scale to rank the influence of each attribute on their decision to use Lanseria International Airport
The findings of a survey conducted at Lanseria International Airport in 2013 were discussed
Summary
Air travel has generally been regarded as the fastest growing mode of transport during the 20th century (Wensveen 2011). Two of the main reasons for the ongoing growth in air travel during the latter half of the previous century were, firstly, the introduction of low-cost airlines and, secondly, the use of secondary airports, as opposed to primary airports, by these airlines (Vasigh, Fleming & Tacker 2008). It is unlikely that the international growth of low-cost airlines could have taken place without recognising the role of secondary airports (De Neufville 2005) Reasons for this are linked to the business model of low-cost airlines and relate to the airport choice factors considered by low-cost airlines (Warnock-Smith & Potter 2005), which can be summarised as follows: 1.An airport that receives regular traffic (serves a town or community) as an alternative to the primary airport (Transportation Dictionary 2015) and not utilised by traditional full-service carriers (Boksberger & Schuckert 2011). Two LCCs operate from this airport with a third LCC airline indicating that it will shortly begin operations from this airport
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