A report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), 2016-17 ACCC Airport Monitoring Report, has found that airport investment has enabled significant international growth and created better facilities for passengers.
Australian Airports Association (AAA) Chief Economist, Warren Mundy, said it was a credit to the industry that it had delivered improved facilities and services at the same time airports and their airline partners facilitated more passengers than ever before.
“It is fantastic to see airports have provided passengers with more travel options, improved terminals and the latest technology,” Dr Mundy said.
“Our airports, in partnership with their airline partners and government agencies, have created a more seamless and easy experience for passengers even as more and more people move through airport terminals each day.
“The ACCC has acknowledged that the significant capital expansion undertaken by airports – $11.5 billion over the last 10 years – has had a positive impact for airlines too, citing the improving on-time performance at the monitored airports since 2012-13.”
The ACCC report highlighted the importance of investing for growth, referring to key projects such as the Terminal 4 at Melbourne Airport, Perth Airport’s Terminal 1 Domestic Pier, Brisbane Airport’s new runway and Sydney Airport’s ground transport improvements as key examples of this investment.
The findings show Perth Airport’s $1 billion redevelopment has been given a huge “thumbs up” by both airlines and passengers.
Perth Airport CEO, Kevin Brown, said the ACCC’s glowing endorsement of the airport was a great credit to Perth Airport’s team, and that the report showed its investment program was paying off for both airlines and passengers.
“When we invest we want to deliver greater efficiencies for airlines and a better travelling experience for passengers,” Mr Brown said.
“We now have plans to invest a further $2.5 billion in our next wave of development which will see a new runway, a major expansion of the international terminal and the move of Qantas services to the Airport Central Precinct.
“We’ll take the same approach of striving to deliver benefits for airlines and passengers as we move towards consolidation of all commercial air services in the Airport Central Precinct and become Australia’s Western Hub.”
