Airline Affairs

Meanwhile the government has also announced some control of airport charges for the first five years of private operation, using a formula based on the inflation rate. After that time government restrictions on pricing would be lifted, with charges monitored by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

At least one new consortium has apparently joined the list of potential bidders for the airports. Led by the Macquarie Bank it includes British operators the Serco Group Plc and Manchester Airport.

Richmond Base To Ease Olympic Load?

Consideration is being given to converting the RAAF transport base at Richmond, west of Sydney, into a temporary international airport to help cope with the expected increase in passenger traffic during the 2000 Olympics.

If the plan proceeds, it will likely include expanding the role of other airports — notably Canberra and Newcastle — and converting them into temporary international ports also. In order to make an airport ‘international’, all that has to be done is to install temporary Customs Immigration & Quarantine facilities. The possibility of expanding Sydney Airport’s terminal space and improving its road access is also being examined.

Experience during the recent Atlanta Olympics quickly showed that even that city’s eight runway airport couldn’t comfortably cope with the increased air traffic. In addition, public and private transport was in gridlock most of the time with ticket holders to Olympic events usually having to allow several hours to get to and from the venues in the city.

Atlanta is similar in size (in terms of population) to Sydney and Melbourne and probably gives a fair indication of what can be expected in 2000, although air traffic would presumably be lighter in Australia because of the much smaller domestic population.

Qantas/Air Caledonie Codeshare Expansion

Qantas and Air Caledonie have expanded their codeshare arrangement on flights between Australia and Noumea. The arrangement currently applies to three return flights per week and in its expanded form covers eight flights. Passengers flying with either carrier to Noumea now have a choice of five return flights per week from Sydney, two from Brisbane and one from Melbourne.

Singapore’s Changi Airport received a boost recently when the airport’s Terminal 2 was officially opened on July 20. The new terminal includes two new finger piers and 22 new aerobridge parking stands able to accommodate the newest generation aircraft such as 777s and A340s. This brings the total number of aerobridges at Changi to 53. The new features coincide with the airport’s 15th anniversary.

Qantas Boosts Asian Services

Qantas has announced a series of expanded services to Asia as part of its new northern hemisphere winter schedules, effective from late October this year.

The new schedules include a third weekly flight to Mumbai (Bombay) via Singapore; extra capacity on the Sydney/Jakarta and Melbourne/Denpasar routes; same aircraft services between Melbourne and Shanghai; three new services each week between Sydney and Singapore; a third weekly Sydney-Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) service; increased capacity to Seoul; increased frequency between Sydney and Wellington; and more capacity on some Melbourne/Wellington/Christchurch services.

New Flight Paths For Cairns

AirServices Australia has proposed new flight paths into and out of Cairns Airport following 12 months of consultation with interested parties including the Airport Consultative Committees, Cairns City Council, Cairns Port Authority (operator of the airport) and local MPs.

AirServices engaged in widespread consultation to ensure the proposals took into consideration community concern about noise and the need for a safe and efficient airport. Some 325 public submissions were received.

The basis of the new paths is the tracking of flights over water and/or unpopulated areas as much as possible. All jet arrivals using Runway 15 (the active runway 70% of the time) will approach over water and departures from both it and Runway 33 will track over water as soon as is safely possible.

Newcastle had its first international arrival and departure on Friday July 12 when Kiwi International’s A320 was delayed leaving Hamilton on its way to Sydney and would not have been able to reach Sydney before the 11pm curfew. The flight was then diverted to Williamtown where customs and quarantine facilities were hastily erected. Three buses were chartered to bring the NZ bound passengers up to Newcastle and to take the others back to Sydney. An air starter and Cathay Pacific’s caterers were also hastily taken to Williamtown where the plane landed at around 12.30am. The A320 was loaded and had left within 90 minutes. The A320 is pictured here at Melbourne. (Rob Finlayson)

Ba/Jal Tie Up?

Having recently announced its planned association with American Airlines, British Airways is now turning its attention to finding a strategic partner in Asia.

The chairmen of BA and Japan Airlines (JAL) have recently met with discussions reportedly revolving around areas of future co-operation. BA is looking for an Asian partner to complement its existing ties with Qantas and USAir and has previously held talks with All Nippon Airways, resulting in a small agreement covering only a shared frequent flyer program.

A BA/JAL tie-up fits in with other associated carriers’ plans. Qantas has discussed codesharing with JAL on flights between Japan and Australia while American and JAL already have an interest in each other’s computer reservation systems, provide reciprocal freight representation and operate a shared frequent flyer program.

Tourism Will Keep Growing

A study prepared by the Tourism Forecasting Council indicates that tourism in Australia will continue to boom, growing by about 9% per annum over the next decade and generating export earnings of $31bn in 2005.

As such, it will outperform the mining and agriculture industries and will attract 8.8 million overseas visitors to Australia in 2005 compared with 3.7 million last year. The Council says that Asia will provide most of the growth with Japan remaining the largest single source with some 2.5 million tourists expected to visit Australia in 2005. The Chinese market is expected to grow by 21% per annum over the next decade with Indonesia, Korea and Thailand topping 10% growth each year.

New Zealand is currently the second largest source of visitors to Australia and is expected to retain that position with an estimated 758,000 tourists coming from the other side of the Tasman in 2005.

Hazelton Cuts Service

Hazelton Airlines has ended its twice daily service linking West Sale to Albury and Sydney.

The daily connection from Traralgon to Sydney will continue, Hazelton saying this was sufficient to meet passenger demand. Other parts of the airline’s network are experiencing increased demand, resulting in the resources which have been devoted to West Sale being employed elsewhere.

Working From Home

In what many see as the way of the future, six Qantas domestic and international telephone sales staff will handle travel bookings from their homes as part of a telecommuting pilot project.

A joint project with Telstra and its technical partner, KNX, the project allows staff to operate from a home office directly connected to the airline’s 131313 domestic and 131211 international reservations systems.

Qantas will initially trial the concept in the homes of six volunteer telephone sales agents for a period of six months. This will be followed by an assessment examining the feasibility of introducing permanent home employment opportunities for telephone sales staff.

By Dc-3 To Dubbo

Qantas fundraising and travel group the Pathfinders has chartered three Dakota National Air Douglas DC-3s for a nostalgia flight to Dubbo and the Western Plains Zoo on Saturday, September 14 this year.

The flight to Dubbo departs Sydney’s Bankstown Airport at 8.40am on the day in question and on arrival passengers will be transferred to the National Trust homestead Dundullimal for a tour of the property and a barbecue lunch. After that, the group will go to the zoo for a guided tour before returning to Bankstown at 8.15pm.

The cost is $200. For details contact George Dowling on (02) 358 1590, tell him you read about it in AA.

Ba Buys Out Tat

British Airways is to exercise its option to purchase the remaining 50.1% share capital of its French partner TAT European Airlines. BA acquired 49.9% of TAT in January 1993 with an option to purchase the remaining shareholding by April 1997.

The newest customer for the Airbus A321 is Egyptair who has ordered four. The A321 is a stretched derivative of the A320 and can accommodate up to 220 passengers. (Airbus)

French law allows BA to own 100% of TAT and the British flag carrier plans to take further steps to improve TAT’s profitability and to prepare it for the changes taking place in the French aviation market. The final package of liberalisation of European skies will shortly be put in place, completely opening domestic markets to competition from other European airlines.

TAT is headquartered in Tours and operates a fleet of regional jets and turboprops including Fokker F28s, Fokker 100s and ATR 42s.

Australasian Aviation ’97

Australian Aviation is proud to announce the launch of our first ever aviation conference. Designated Australasian Aviation ’97, the conference deals with a wide range of issues affecting the air transport industry through the coming twelve to eighteen months.

Key speakers will represent the very cream of the Australasian airline industry and regulatory environment including (in alphabetical order) Air New Zealand, AirServices Australia, Ansett, Australian Tourist Commission, Board of Airline Representatives, Bureau of Air Safety Investigation, Cairns International Airport, Canberra Business Council, Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Federal Airports Corporation, International Air Services Commission, Kendell Airlines, Kiwi International Airlines, National Jet and Qantas.

The conference will be opened by the Minister for Transport & Regional Development John Sharp MHR who will also deliver the keynote address.

To be held at Canberra’s Rydges Lakeside Hotel on November 25 & 26, this conference will address the crucial issues affecting our industry in the year ahead. Airport privatisation, the future of regional airlines, the Ansett/ANZ alliance, Qantas expectations for the future, air safety, aviation and tourism. How to develop profitable airline operations and changes in the regulatory outlook will all be addressed over the two days of what should be a very effective, productive and enjoyable conference in the nation’s capital. For full details please refer to our special centrespread feature.

More Indonesia Services

The International Air Services Commission has given approval to Qantas and National Jet Systems to operate additional services between Australia and Indonesia.

The approval allows Qantas to fly to Indonesia 27 times per week (up from 21) and will see three new routes serviced: Brisbane/Jakarta, Melbourne/Jakarta and Darwin/Timika. The new services will begin in November this year.

NJS will add three new services per week to its existing schedule and facilitate the introduction of two new routes: Christmas Island/Jakarta and Darwin/Lombok. In 1995 some 135,000 Indonesians visited Australia, a 28% increase over the previous year. The Australian Tourism Commission expects the figure to rise to about 140,000 this year and to more than 300,000 by the turn of century.

The Asian Circle

Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines have joined forces to offer Australian first and business class travellers special deals on multi city, around Asia itineraries.

The airlines’ ‘Circle Asia’ fares start at $3681 for return business class travel from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide to Hong Kong via Bangkok and Singapore. The equivalent first class fare is $4615 from Australia’s east coast and the deals are available until the end of March next year.

Stopovers are allowed in Singapore and Bangkok, enroute to Hong Kong, in one direction only. Open jaw itineraries are permitted, but not open dated sectors and combined first and business class travel on the same itinerary are allowed, also at special rates.

Rothschild Sells Hazelton Shares

Rothschild Australia has sold its 17.8% stake in Hazelton Airlines for $3.2m to Western Australian charter operator Skippers Aviation.

Skippers is owned by the family interests of Perth businessman Stan Inliven, who also has companies involved in other areas. The sale means that Skippers is now the second largest shareholder in the airline behind its founder, Max Hazelton, who has 32%.

The purchase by Skippers Aviation has surprised the industry, which expected Qantas to be a more likely candidate given the interest it showed in the regional carrier earlier this year. Max Hazelton was also seen as a possibility to increase his stake in the wake of his unsuccessful attempt to oust the chairman and several directors in January. Rothschild — along with other institutional shareholders AMP and Mercantile Mutual — played a key role in his defeat.

Virgin Deal Cancelled

Virgin Atlantic Airways has been freed from its obligations under a codesharing deal with Malaysia Airlines brokered by the previous Federal Government.

The arrangement was established in May last year and involved giving Virgin interim approval to codeshare with Malaysia on flights between London and Australia, conditional on the airline undertaking to start services with its own aircraft by the end of 1996. It was promoted by the previous Minister for Transport as a major step towards establishing competition with Qantas and British Airways on the ‘Kangaroo Route’.

The service has achieved only limited success in building a customer base and not sufficient to encourage Virgin to start services in its own right. As a result, the agreement has been allowed to lapse, although Virgin can continue its codesharing arrangement with Malaysia Airlines.

Airports Update

Avalon: The Federal Government’s recently announced decision to cut $150m from its regional development program may have an effect on major developments planned for Geelong and Ballarat, including Avalon Airport, according to a local MP. Labor’s Gavan O’Connor (MHR for Corio) believes that plans to upgrade and establish road and rail links to Avalon, supporting its use as a food freight centre, are endangered because of the cuts. Avalon has been subject to a confirmed bid for its purchase by Lockheed Martin but has not indicated whether it is also seeking to purchase maintenance organisation ASTA Aircraft Services which resides on the site. The union movement has expressed fears that if the airport is sold but ASTAAS is not it could result in the closure of the troubled organisation with the loss of 450 jobs. ASTAAS has been in the financial doldrums for several years and is proving difficult to sell as a result. It was not included in the $40m deal which saw Rockwell purchase most of the rest of parent company ASTA last year.

Busselton: The latest in the seemingly endless Busselton upgrade funding saga (refer almost every previous Airports Update) is that the WA airport has received nearly $1m in Federal Government funding, but none of it can be used to complete the terminal section of the project. Instead, the money is to be used to lengthen the runway, construct a weather station and install pilot activated lighting. The Federal funding is part of $4.5m grant to four south west WA airports.

Cairns: The Cairns Port Authority has called for tenders for several construction projects at the airport including pavement for the domestic apron north extension and the international apron, filling for future international apron bays and miscellaneous drainage works.

Hobart: The Hobart Airport Committee (which comprises various local government, tourism, state government and other groups) has recommended that Hobart Airport not be sold to a private buyer and instead handed over to local ownership at no cost, debt free and with a $4m payment to the new owner. The recommendation is based on fears that if the airport is sold to a private buyer landing charges could increase considerably, in turn resulting in higher air fares and a loss of tourism business. The committee’s report has been forwarded to Minister for Transport John Sharp.

Mackay: Mackay Airport continued its recent history of strong growth in the 1995-96 financial year with 290,100 passengers using the facility, 26,000 more than the previous year. Plans are in place to cope with future growth including extending the runway and building larger aircraft parking bays. The airport’s passenger traffic has increased by 74.6% over the last five years. Some facilities are already being upgraded with access roads widened and their drainage improved. Landscaping to the area is also to be undertaken.

Mildura: Extension work on Mildura Airport’s east-west runway is being undertaken at night so as to minimise disruptions to flights. Pioneer Road Services is performing the extension and resurfacing of the runway as well as applying bituminous concrete to two taxiways and the main apron area in front of the terminal building.

Perth: The National Native Title Tribunal has received a notice of claim for land within the boundaries of Perth Airport and for adjacent Hartfield Park Reserve. Anyone wishing to be part of the claim or who has an interest in it has to apply to the Native Title Registrar by November 18 this year. With the sale of Perth and other airports coming up, this could play havoc with the process. Perth will now not have an aircraft noise study which might have resulted in the payment of compensation to residents deemed to be adversely affected by it. The idea has been axed by the Federal Government which has blamed the previous government for not providing forward estimates of the necessary funding. It is suggested that few are affected by aircraft noise in Perth, although criticism of the scheme’s cancellation has been very loud indeed.

Proserpine: Whitsunday Shire Council has decided not to renew Ansett’s lease on Proserpine-Whitsunday Airport, which will revert to council control from September 30 this year. The council’s plans for managing the airport in the future have not as yet been decided with operational and long term strategic issues still to be examined. The ending of the lease does not affect the terminal building which is owned jointly by Ansett and Qantas.