More tales of woe for Regional Oz - 
Via the Oz today:
MTF...P2
Via the Oz today:
Quote:Crackdown threat to bush servicesShame Barmybaby is too busy trying to save his arse...
12:00amANNABEL HEPWORTH
Air services to remote communities could perish because of the costs associated with security upgrades.
Security crackdown ‘could push bush services to the wall’
The Northern Territory government has added its voice to warnings that any move to step up security screening at regional and remote airports could see some air services to the bush perish.
In a move that escalates pressure on the government to fund a possible crackdown from a federal review of airport security screening, the NT’s Department of Planning, Infrastructure and Logistics warned that extra security could drive up airfares.
In a submission to the Senate’s probe into services to the bush, the NT government also warns of “a loss of services where providing security renders marginally sustainable services uneconomical”.
“Many of the Territory’s remote and very remote Aboriginal community aerodromes have very limited or no passenger facilities, including terminals or shelters, and many are without power or water services,” the submission says. “There will be a significant cost if passenger or cargo facilities need to be constructed or upgraded to provide secure or sterile areas so that screening procedures can be undertaken, particularly where services are not frequent.”
The review of security at airports was ordered last year.
There have been suggestions that the review will lead to extending screening of passengers on aircraft weighing more than 20 tonnes to all regional public transport air services. But there are growing warnings about the impact of any new measures on the bush.
Mount Isa City Council told the review that the federal government or passengers travelling between major capital cities should meet the costs of extra security measures. “If the government is concerned a small regional aircraft may be used in a 9/11 style attack, then it is unlikely the terrorists’ target would be a remote community,” the council’s submission says.
A spokeswoman for Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the government was considering a number of options and was “mindful of the impacts that security measures have on industry, particularly for regional and remote aviation”. “It is important to balance regulatory costs against maintaining the overall security and sustainability of the aviation network,” the spokeswoman said.
Flinders Council, which owns and operates the loss-making Flinders Island airport off the northeast coast of Tasmania, has also told the inquiry that tougher security measures at regional airports “will no doubt have a flow on” to passengers.
&..
Regional airports face challenges
12:00amCAROLINE WILKIE
Regional airports arre facing a dilemma: either run at a loss or increase charges and risk losing services.
Regional airports doing it tough, survey reveals
The federal government inquiry into the operation, regulation and funding of air route service delivery to rural, regional and remote communities has provided an opportunity to highlight the unique challenges regional airports face.
The Australian Airports Association recently surveyed members to better understand the challenges they face, with 51 regional airports responding.
The survey confirmed what anecdotal evidence has been telling us for some time: regional airports are doing it tough.
Often operated by local councils, some airports are faced with the dilemma of running at a loss or increasing airport charges and risking losing services.
Nearly 40 per cent of respondents expected persistent budget deficits across the next 10 years, even as airport costs are expected to rise by a further 38 per cent. Despite financial hardship, regional airports have been slow to increase airport charges, as they recognise the importance of accessible air services to communities. Three-quarters said their airport charges had stayed the same or reduced in real terms during the past five years.
But this has not stopped some regional councils feeling the pressure to go further, with 68 per cent reporting they’d been asked by airlines to reduce airport charges.
Of most concern, a quarter of respondents said these requests came on the back of a threat to reduce vital services to their region. With the vast majority of regional passengers carried by domestic duopoly airlines and in many cases only one airline serving an airport, council negotiating power can be extremely limited.
As they keep charges low, some councils are already subsidising essential maintenance and airport improvements.
Regional airfares remain high, with locals hit hard by the cost of travelling to medical appointments, family events and business meetings. Ensuring regional services remain affordable and accessible requires a collective commitment from airlines, airports and government to hold true to the ethos of fair and equal opportunity for everyone.
With 30 per cent of Australians living in regional and remote areas, it’s simply not fair for the cost of airfares to prevent them achieving the same economic and social outcomes as their city counterparts. It’s time to identify a sustainable way forward for the future that puts our regions ahead of profits.
Caroline Wilkie is chief executive of the Australian Airports Association.
&..
Regionals call for Sydney slots
12:00amANNABEL HEPWORTH
The rules for managing slots for landing and takeoff at Australia’s busiest airport are stymieing services to regional areas.
Regional airlines renew calls for more slots at Sydney airport
The rules for managing slots for landing and takeoff at Australia’s busiest airport are stymieing services to regional areas, an influential parliamentary committee has been told.
Virgin Australia has reignited debate about reforming slot arrangements at Sydney Airport by warning of a situation where slots for NSW regional services during popular travel times are “extremely limited”.
The commonwealth legislation for slot management at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport guarantees slots for regional services but caps their number during peak periods.
As well, the number of slots at the airport for regional services during peaks has fallen by 42, or 10 per cent, since 2001. The concern is that where peak slots for regional services have gone to non-regional services, they can’t be changed back.
“Timings in these periods are necessary for the operation of viable services by airlines, as they enable day trips to be undertaken by travellers originating both in Sydney and regional communities,” Virgin has told the Senate inquiry into air services to rural, regional and remote areas.
“Accordingly, the current legislative arrangements equate to less competition, fewer choices and potentially higher airfares on routes between Sydney and destinations in regional NSW until Western Sydney Airport becomes operational.”
Virgin says that while the commonwealth rules “were introduced to safeguard the operation of regional services, in reality they are inhibiting the growth of such services in the state”.
“To address this problem and support the expansion of regional services in NSW, the legislative framework should be amended to allow any slot held by an airline to be used to operate a regional or non-regional air service, as is the case in other states and territories, or alternatively, to allow non-regional slots to be converted to regional slots,” the submission says.
The comments have renewed calls for regional airlines to be given better access to landing slots into during busy periods.
Airspeed Aviation managing director Ben Wyndham said he had tried for years to start a service between Narrabri and Sydney but “we gave up basically because slots are too hard”.
“If we could secure commercially viable slots into Mascot on a year-round basis, we would have had financial backing available. But because we couldn’t get that certainty, as a start-up, nobody was willing to help fund our expansion into regional scheduled air services.
“We shelved the airline project,” he says, but notes the firm has doubled its charter operations over the past six months.
A NSW parliamentary inquiry in 2014 recommended pushing the federal government to remove regional turboprop aircraft from the movements cap at Sydney airport and ensure that the access of regional regular passenger transport services to the airport was preserved.
NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said he was calling on Canberra to create five new slots exclusively for quieter regional aircraft.
“The biggest impediment to growth in regional aviation is the cap on slots into Kingsford Smith,” Mr Constance said. “We don’t agree with kicking this down the road until Western Sydney Airport is open. The federal government has the power to fix it now.”
A spokeswoman for Infrastructure and Transport Minister Barnaby Joyce said he was aware of the issue facing Virgin.
“Slots at Sydney airport for regional services are fully utilised during peak periods but unfortunately the current legislation does not permit the conversion of non-regional slots to regional slots during the peak period,” the spokeswoman said.
The government “is absolutely prepared to explore opportunities to increase flexibility for airlines where this improves access for regional NSW communities into Sydney”, she said. “Of course, any changes to legislation will need a bipartisan approach.”
MTF...P2