Abstract
There is a global concern over the aviation industry’s growing environmental footprint. Literature highlights the importance of effective stakeholder management in enabling the adoption of sustainable practices in aviation to reduce its environmental impact. However, there remains limited understanding of the role of stakeholder management in the adoption of sustainable practices in Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs). The purpose of this study is to explore the role of stakeholders in enabling the adoption of sustainable practices in an African ANSP. The research focuses on identifying barriers to adoption, examining stakeholder collaboration and change management strategies that enable the adoption of sustainable practices. The study adopted a qualitative research approach. Data was collected from 15 ANSP stakeholders using semi-structured interviews and analysed using a qualitative thematic analysis. Findings indicate that financial constraints are a systemic barrier, limiting the ANSPs capacity to support sustainability initiatives. Leadership and organisational support are key enablers, providing the required guidance and structures to facilitate change. Stakeholders collaborate at an operational level, which indirectly contributes to environmental performance but should aim for stakeholder synergy for systemic sustainability transformation. ANSPs often face sustainability trade-offs, with social and economic mandates prioritised over environmental objectives due to resource constraints. These findings suggest the following with regards to African ANSPs; policymakers should prioritise funding mechanisms to support sustainability initiatives, sustainability should be championed by top management and embedded into the organisation’s culture, and ANSPs should develop stakeholder management frameworks that facilitate structured engagement for stakeholders to align sustainability goals, navigate inherent trade-offs between social, economic and environmental priorities and move beyond operational collaboration towards stakeholder synergy.