Strategic alliances between airlines and airports - theoretical assessment and practical evidence

Strategic alliances are now widespread. This paper shifts the focus from alliances among airlines toward strategic alliances involving passenger airlines and airports. Following a conceptual path analyzing motives, potential benefits and problems, potential fields of cooperation are identified along with three basic classes of airline-airport alliances. Capacity-based, marketing-based, and security based cooperation models are assessed with regard to benefits for the participating airline and airport partners. This expands the existing literature that has largely neglected the airline-airport relationship and its potential for developing their respective competitive strategies. The case of the alliance between Lufthansa and Munich airport serves as an illustration. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.