Journal of Airline Operations and Aviation Management

Like many rapidly growing airports in developing economies, inefficiencies of ground handling operations at Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) are linked to delays, increased operational costs, and reduced customer satisfaction. Therefore, this study aims to explore how operational efficiency in ground handling services at Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) can be enhanced through optimization of critical operational factors such as workforce management, proper utilization of ground support equipment (GSE), technological integration, financial investment, and infrastructure capacity, which are critical to the overall performance of any airport.

Moreover, a mixed-methods case study approach is used which integrates quantitative and qualitative insights to provide better understanding of operational efficiencies, quantitative data were collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using multiple regression and ANOVA, while qualitative insights were derived from expert interviews and thematic analysis using NVivo. Similarly, the secondary data in this study consisted of airline and airport records, performance reports, and published datasets were used to validate and complement primary findings. The regression model confirmed high reliability of model used which was obtained from Cronbach’s Alfa value (α) of 0.882 and the operational efficiency variance (R2) value of 0.778, which indicate that 77.8% of the variance in the dependent variable is explained by the independent variables.

Furthermore, all operational predictors demonstrated a significant influence to JNIA operational efficiency, strongest contributors to operational efficiency being infrastructure capacity and workforce management recording coefficient (β) value of 0.359 and 0.356 respectively. Similarly, Sensitivity analysis indicated that incremental improvements in these factors can collectively enhance efficiency by 10-20%. Comparison analysis within East African context has revealed that JNIA’s operational efficiency scores 0.76 behind JKIA whose operational efficiency records 0.85 which highlighting opportunities for investment in infrastructure, technology, and workforce utilization.

Conversely, the study concludes that a holistic and integrated approach is essential to enhance ground handling performance and operational reliability at JNIA, with implications for broader airport management in the East African context.