Skift Take
Australia’s airlines are urging the government to rein in the airports, claiming they are abusing their monopoly power to extract unreasonable charges. It’s a tough call for Canberra, which wants to see more investment in airport infrastructure, but doesn’t want to be seen allowing price gouging from some of the most profitable airport operators in the world.
Tensions are rising between Australia’s airlines and the country’s successful airports, which are being accused of abusing their monopoly status.
The latest salvo comes from Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ), an industry group established in 2017 to represent carriers based in Australia and New Zealand.
The lobby group has called for government protection against “Australian and New Zealand airports … exercising market power; to the detriment of airlines, the broader aviation sector, consumers, and the economy.”
Specifically, A4ANZ is calling for a regulatory and pricing environment that “encourages competition and innovation, (and) more accurately reflects cost inputs and a reasonable and fair return on assets.”
The airlines, including Qantas, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand, regularly argue that they are overcharged by the airports, most of which are monopoly operators in their cities. And the airports are easy targets, after reporting growing profits while airfares have been falling.
In its efforts to enlist public support for the campaign to regulate the airports, A4ANZ is painting a picture of enormously successful airports profiting from all its customers – airlines, car services, taxi operators and travelers. It cited Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) findings that the four major airports (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and
