Major infrastructure investment and new direct routes are turning regional airports into high-value gateways for travellers, brands and local economies.
A wave of capital spending at regional airports across George, King Phalo International Airport, Upington International Airport, Chief Dawid Stuurman International, Bram Fischer International Airport and Kimberley is reshaping how, and where, we fly, with knock-on implications for brands wanting to reach travellers beyond the country’s traditional major hubs.
For Airport Ads, which connects brands with travellers across our regional airport network, the shift matters. These airports are becoming high-attention environments in their own right, offering brands access to business and leisure audiences in premium, high-dwell spaces that are often less cluttered than larger transport environments.
The scale of investment is hard to overstate. Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) is rolling out a R22 billion capital programme that touches nearly every airport on this list. George Airport, gateway to the Garden Route, handled more than 911 000 two-way passengers in 2025, an 11% jump on the previous year, and is now operating at full capacity. ACSA has earmarked roughly R310 million to double the terminal’s capacity to around two million passengers annually, with construction due to start in October 2026.
Mzukisi Deliwe, Director of Airport Ads, says: “For brands targeting leisure travellers, second-home owners, local business operators and the wider Garden Route tourism economy, George’s expansion will create more visible points of engagement with travellers who have disposable spend and time in the environment.”
In the Eastern Cape, King Phalo Airport in KuGompo City is heading into its centenary year backed by a R450 million modernisation and a separate R213 million runway overhaul. Passenger numbers climbed sharply over the 2025 peak season, with the airport processing about 90 000 arriving and departing passengers, up from 83 000 the year before.
As passenger volumes rise, airports such as King Phalo become more commercially relevant for brands wanting to reach regional business travellers, families, holidaymakers and returning residents in a setting where attention is less fragmented than in many traditional media environments.
The biggest single project is in Gqeberha, where Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport is undergoing a R4.6 billion, five-year upgrade, described as the city’s largest infrastructure investment since it hosted matches during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The terminal will be expanded to handle up to 3.5 million passengers a year, while current annual traffic already stands at around 1.5 million.
Further west, Upington International Airport, home to the Southern Hemisphere’s longest runway, continues to attract global automotive manufacturers for extreme-climate vehicle testing, alongside a growing solar energy footprint.
The latest passenger data shows where that momentum is concentrating. Inland regional airports posted some of the strongest domestic growth in ACSA’s network in April 2026: Upington International Airport and Bram Fischer International Airport each grew domestic passengers 11% year-on-year, Kimberley climbed 6%, and Gqeberha’s Chief Dawid Stuurman posted a 6% increase. International travel also grew, up 2% year-on-year across ACSA’s major gateways. George and King Phalo, both mid-upgrade, remain ahead on a full-year basis following 2025’s record passenger growth.
These numbers point to the growing value of regional reach. As passenger growth becomes less concentrated around the traditional metropolitan hubs, brands have an opportunity to follow travellers into environments that are closer to the point of destination, decision-making and local spend.
Deliwe says: “Regional airports are no longer simply feeder routes to the big hubs. They are becoming destinations and gateways in their own right, with passenger growth and infrastructure investment to match. For advertisers, that means new opportunities to reach valuable audiences closer to their destination, when travel decisions and local spending are often top of mind.”
For brands and marketers, the shift matters because it changes who is reachable, and where. Regional airports serve audiences that have historically been difficult to target through traditional out-of-home or airport networks, including Garden Route holidaymakers, Eastern Cape business travellers and decision-makers, Free State and Northern Cape travellers, and a new wave of flyers using direct regional routes for the first time. These passengers often spend meaningful dwell time in smaller, less cluttered terminals, and travel through environments where they’re already thinking about meetings, accommodation, local experiences, retail, restaurants and transport.
Each of these airports also anchors a distinct regional economy, from tourism in the Garden Route, surf tourism and business growth in KuGompo City, and the automotive and university economy in Gqeberha, to renewable energy and industrial testing in Upington, inland business and government travel through Bloemfontein, and mining, agriculture and heritage tourism around Kimberley.
Deliwe says this is where Airport Ads’ regional network becomes commercially relevant without turning the conversation into a one-airport opportunity: “Brands do not have to view these airports in isolation. The value lies in being able to build a presence across multiple regional gateways as travel patterns decentralise and these audiences become more visible.”
As ACSA’s capital programme continues to roll out over the coming years, the media opportunity will mature with it. For brands, the timing is important: regional airport advertising still offers uncluttered access to emerging travel audiences, but that advantage will narrow as investment, passenger growth and route expansion draw more attention to these spaces: “The brands that move early will be better placed to own these gateways as they become busier, more connected and more commercially competitive.”
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Author: Petra Peacock from Chimeracomms on behalf of Airport Ads.
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