Regulate airports - ACCC

THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has urged the govt to adopt an “effective regulatory regime for the major airports in Australia,” saying current arrangements are not effectively constraining behaviour by airport operators.

The ACCC has made a submission to the Productivity Commission inquiry into the economic regulation of airports, saying that in a large country like Australia, airports are critical pieces of infrastructure to drive tourism and economic growth.

“Providers of key monopoly infrastructure such as the major airports are typically regulated to ensure that they will not exploit their market power to the detriment of consumers and the broader economy,” said ACCC chair Rod Sims.

“This is not currently the case with Australia’s major airports.”

Sims said aeronautical charges at key airports had significantly increased over the last decade, with revenue per passenger soaring 59% in Perth, 36% in Brisbane and 31% at Melbourne.

Despite a slower growth rate of 15% at Sydney, Kingsford Smith still maintains the highest revenue per passenger, having almost doubled its charges just before it was privatised in 2002.

“The increases across the four airports over the last decade represent an additional $1.3 billion in payments from airlines,” Sims said - and despite the increases only Perth Airport had materially improved its service.

The ACCC submission also notes the massive increases in car parking revenue and access costs for taxis, hire cars and other ground transport providers.

However a submission by the airports has warned increased regulation would risk cutting future investment -

MOST workers in the Australian travel industry are satisfied with their overall employment conditions but would consider a new job if one was offered, according to the annual Travel Daily/travelBulletin salary and employment survey.

Respondents who reported they were actively looking for a new position highlighted better compensation and benefits as one reason to leave their current job, followed by new experiences, dissatisfaction with management and change in career path.

Just under half of the 1,300 respondents said that there was no chance of promotion in their current role but this was not found to be a factor in job satisfaction levels, as measured by a net promoter score.

Interestingly 51% of respondents said they felt “very” to “extremely secure” in their current job, with employees in the cruise industry most confident about job security.

The survey across all sectors of the travel industry measured the degree to which employers looked after the well being of their staff with 61% of respondents saying they felt their employer showed between a “modest degree” to “high degree” of interest and those in the MICE, hotels and aviation sectors citing greatest levels of employee care.

There was little change between 2017 and 2018 survey results in regards to skills that respondents were seeking to develop with marketing occupying the top spot, followed by sales, presentation skills and computer software skills.

The 2018 survey is the fourth annual salary and employment survey conducted independently by specialist firm Stollznow Research.

For further info and to purchase the full results, contact research@traveldaily.com.au.