Why Lanseria is different

In South Africa, the privatisation of daily life is no longer creeping — for those who can afford it, it is quickly becoming the default.

Security is handled by private firms that outnumber the police. Power comes from rooftop solar when the grid fails. Water, when municipal pipes run dry, is pumped from private boreholes or delivered to households. Education and health care are increasingly split between public obligation and private provision.

Now, even airports are becoming part of this shift.

Lanseria International Airport, on the outskirts of Joburg, is the only major privately owned commercial airport in the country. It is modest in scale compared with OR Tambo International, just 40km away, but structurally very different. Free from the regulatory and procurement frameworks that govern state-owned infrastructure, Lanseria is able to move faster — and, increasingly, more efficiently.

In its earlier years, Lanseria won fans with a small but compelling detail: a pot of filter coffee left out for anyone to pour themselves. That coffee has since disappeared, replaced by familiar franchises and pay-to-enter lounges, but the airport’s underlying logic still holds.

On a recent visit, there were no queues to speak of, no shouted instructions and no complex choreography between terminals. Boarding happened via tap-and-go gates. The atmosphere was functional, low-key and refreshingly devoid of the disarray that plagues many larger, state-run airports.

This frictionless surface reflects deeper structural choices. Lanseria is not only privately owned; it also integrates many functions that are typically outsourced or distributed across contractors in public airports. It manages check-in, boarding, baggage handling and airside services such as refuelling and marshalling internally — a model more common to private sector logistics firms than public infrastructure.

“Most services airlines usually outsource from the airport we provide in-house,” Rampa Rammopo, the airport’s CEO, tells the FM. “If an airline wants to start operating here, all it needs to bring is its aircraft, crew and perhaps one or two station managers.”

That bundled service offering has made the airport attractive to no-frills carriers like FlySafair, which now operates regular routes from Lanseria to Cape Town, Durban, East London, Gqeberha and George. The airport is in talks to expand its route network, with a focus on underserved regional connections.

Behind the scenes, Lanseria has also invested heavily in technology. In 2024, it partnered with Turkish aviation firm TAV Technologies to install a new digital infrastructure backbone. Passengers already board via contactless gates; a biometric check-in system with facial recognition is planned, which could eventually allow travellers to pass through security and board aircraft without showing a physical document.

“We want to be one of the smartest airports in the region,” Rammopo said. “Being privately owned gives us the flexibility to roll out capital projects much faster.”

While Lanseria is not without its flaws — it is still an airport, with limited dining options, unremarkable waiting areas, and crowding during peak hours — its operating model is built around finding quick solutions to pain points. It offers a functional contrast to South Africa’s state-run aviation network, where Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has faced mounting criticism over infrastructure backlogs, delayed upgrades and limited operational flexibility.

The implications are not limited to Gauteng. A privately funded and operated airport is now proposed for the Cape winelands — a region now served only by Cape Town International, which has reached capacity in some peak travel periods.

While a handful of other privately operated airports exist — including Kruger Mpumalanga International near Mbombela — Lanseria remains the only large-scale commercial hub fully outside the Acsa network. If it goes ahead as promised, the winelands hub would mark South Africa’s second major commercial airport built entirely beyond the state’s transport infrastructure.

Proponents argue that a private airport in the winelands could serve regional tourism, offer faster turnaround times for domestic carriers and relieve pressure on Cape Town’s public terminal.

Critics raise questions about land use, airspace regulation and the long-term implications of transferring core infrastructure into private hands. But the debate now mirrors broader trends across South African service delivery: where public institutions falter, private alternatives are emerging — and often, gaining ground.

Air travel is far from fully privatised, nor is it likely to be. The state still owns and operates the majority of the country’s transport infrastructure, and large-scale projects such as national air traffic control remain centrally managed. But the emergence of functioning private airports — particularly in a context where other essential services have already shifted into private hands — marks a new phase.

Lanseria, for now, is just one airport. But it reflects a broader pattern already visible across South African infrastructure — where private operators are increasingly filling gaps left by the state. Whether that becomes the standard model for aviation remains to be seen. Still, if it brings shorter queues and better systems, if not the return of that simmering pot of free coffee, it’s unlikely to face much resistance from the flying public.