Encapsulated in the normative spatial planning models of airport-led development, the concentration of urban development near airports is a prominent subject in academia, policy and practice. Following global trends, South Africa is not spared in the hype of airport-led development. However, there is a paucity of literature that analyses the institutional arrangements that influence airport-centric development planning. Using the case study of the Ekurhuleni Aerotropolis, which is centred on OR Tambo International Airport, South Africa, the study analysed the institutional arrangements that affect the planning of development that hinges on airports. Framed under institutional economic geography and collaborative planning, the study aimed to analyse the stakeholders’ roles, interdependencies, synergies, and contentions in the Ekurhuleni Aerotropolis planning. The study was based on a qualitative design, which entailed interviews with four key informants selected through snowball sampling technique. The study found the project’s reliance on a triad of primary stakeholders: Ekurhuleni municipality, Gauteng provincial government and the Airports Company South Africa. The intra- and inter-organisational disagreements between the stakeholders centred on the project’s geographical scope, ownership, land-use allocation, and relevance of the project relative to pressing socio-economic issues in the municipality. To transcend the narrow municipal boundaries, it is recommended that provincial governments facilitate, through regional spatial development frameworks, the planning of aerotropolis in a functional region context.