[Peetwo]

Feeders of the ASA/Thales OneSKY trough - by 'that man' courtesy the Oz

What Airservices covered up: luxury Paris trips cost $40,000

• Ean Higgins
  
• The Australian
  
• April 22, 2016 12:00AM
  

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association president Marc de Stoop says Airservices Australia is ‘very inefficient’. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Details of trips to Paris that Airservices Australia tried to suppress show its executives spent more than $40,000 of the organisation’s funds in two excursions to the French capital only a month apart.

Two pairs of Airservices officials made the trips to talk with aerospace group Thales, the lead contractor on the $1.5 billion OneSKY air traffic control project, even though Thales has an ­organisation to service clients in Australia. The executives flew business class and stayed at a four-star Paris hotel.

Aircraft Owners and Pilots ­Association president Marc De Stoop branded the trips an example of what he claimed was extravagant and unnecessary expenditure by Airservices.

Airservices, which runs the nation’s air traffic control and navigation system and airport fire and rescue services, is government-owned but industry-funded.

Mr De Stoop said this meant the cost of such jaunts ultimately came out of the pockets of the ­financially struggling aviation industry, including his members.

“Why do they need to go there when they (Thales) have 3000 people here?” Mr De Stoop asked.

“They are very inefficient, Airservices Australia. They are costing us too much.”
Airservices media last month confirmed at least one trip to Paris had taken place to discuss One­SKY, but refused to provide details. But through a Freedom of Information application, The Australian can now reveal the full picture of the Airservices’ executives’ trips to Paris.

The documents obtained are two memos to Airservices chief executive Jason Harfield, detailing the financial reconciliations for the two trips taken by two Airservices officials each time.

The first trip, from December 14 to 20 last year, involved business class airfares totalling $17,979.66; $2296.52 for three nights’ accommodation and breakfast at the Pullman Paris La Defense hotel; and $714.20 for incidentals including transport, for a total of $20,990.38. The second trip from January 18 to 24 this year, involving a four-night stay, came to $20,635.15.

While the business class tickets cost $9000 each, a Webjet search found that for the corresponding dates of the first trip, airfares on KLM for one-stop return flights to Paris could be had for $5313 business class on China Southern Airlines, or $1735 economy on KLM.

The Paris trips, revealed by The Australian last month after a leak from a dissident executive, have sparked concern and are said to be one example of profligate spending on OneSKY, which is causing unease in the organisation’s ranks.

Some Airservices staff are also outraged at expenditure on consultants, such as the $1 million paid to former air force officer Harry Bradford to negotiate with Thales on Airservices’ behalf.

The OneSKY project will integrate the civilian and military air traffic control and navigation systems with new radar in a state-of-the-art system.

Airservices would not reveal which executives went to Paris.

In a statement, a spokeswoman said: “Senior executives from Thales, Airservices and Defence meet, from time to time, as part of the negotiation process for the One­SKY Australia program. Meetings generally have taken place in Australia, and on occasion in France.

“All travel is undertaken in accordance with Airservices travel policy, which is consistent with the Australian government’s international travel policy with respect to class of airfare, hotels and incidental expenses.”

MTF...P2