Commercial Aviation Update

Corporate and business charters are now a routine way of life for Australian companies and professional men who have to cover a huge country efficiently if they are to deliver services to country and interstate centres. Medical specialists, lawyers and urgent blood samples are just some of the critical users of those services. But the toughest question is what will happen to dozens of commuter airline routes throughout NSW when the squeeze comes. The oft quoted “move them to Bankstown” is another furphy. Bankstown’s runways are not big enough, Bankstown is already jammed with light aircraft and the Bankstown community has already strongly objected to any proposals to enlarge the airport – a concept which is hardly practicable anyway.

Tullamarine Ban

Even in Melbourne, which is ably supplied with well located airports, local authorities are banning small commuter flights from using Tullamarine airport. They are told to go to Essendon Airport, even though room is available and even though the passengers using them want to connect with other airline flights at Tullamarine. These instructions have been issued by the newly formed Civil Aviation Authority which purports to be interested only in safety matters and not in economic regulation. Another nail in the coffin could be the imminent sale of Schofields Airport in Sydney’s northwestern suburbs to help balance the Commonwealth budget. Schofields represents virtually the only potential new capacity in the Sydney region.

What is the Government’s policy for aviation? Who is responsible for orderly planning of facilities? GAA has been calling on Government for more than a year now to bring together the many interested parties to find workable solutions to the airport shortage problem. To no avail. Our letters do not even attract an acknowledgement.

Even without small aircraft services the industry and the travelling public face terrible problems at Mascot today. The major scheduled airlines have already learnt that there is not enough room at Mascot to land their aircraft (low noise or not) during peak morning and evening hours. Yet work is going ahead to add several more gate positions at the expanded international terminal. How will the aircraft to use those gates find their way on to the runway?

Local Flights to Suffer

If international flights are to receive top priority then obviously local services will have to be cancelled to make way for them. But the trunk airlines aircraft have nowhere else to land in Sydney- nor do most large commuters and business jets. This problem is with us today-next summer’s schedules are already too tough to fit into the available space.

The so-called solution at Badgery’s Creek – bearing in mind the staged development outlined by Senator Evans – is more than a decade away. What will happen between now and then? Actions by the authorities seem to indicate that they are seeking to bluff their way through this mess, hopefully satisfyting a few voters around the Mascot area at the same time. The Minister’s imminent and arbitrary ban on some commercial flights at Sydney would seem to exceed his powers. So does the equally arbitrary action of CAA employees in Victoria. After all, Mascot and Tullamarine are public airports and all the public are entitled to think they can use them. They certainly want to in increasing numbers.

We believe the Minister and the Government have forgotten that the Australian public and visitors to our country, are some of the highest users of air transport in the world. Australia’s shape and, nature makes that more than a good idea – aviation is essential to the Australian way of life.

GAA supports the use of sensitive procedures to maintain and even improve environmental aspects of airport operations. But to stop the air transport industry providing services demanded by the community is just not on. The new Ministers, Mr Willis and Mr Punch, now have the opportunity of joining with the industry and quickly finding our way out of the mire. Only two possible outcomes are available – more facilities or an unhappy population.