Debrief

Rex bravely operated a short lived Brisbane-Maryborough service in the face of impossible competition, and faces formidable competition on its new route. Given its Townsville FIFO base (utilising ex Macair resources) it was logical that a link Townsville to either Cairns or Mackay (likely higher yielding) would be tried to increase utilisation.

Flight West briefly operated same day return Mackay-Townsville links for Ansett, and both Sunstate and Flight West long operated ‘all stops’ Brisbane-Cairns services, the latter ceasing with Ansett’s demise. QantasLink presently operate 14 return flights weekly, all but two with Q400s, providing close to the capacity the two carriers previously provided against road, rail and bus alternatives. Rex’s schedule may have a slight business edge over QantasLink (who could match it), but QantasLink have the big advantage of offering more distant regional links and carrying through passengers on pairings such as Rockhampton to Townsville or Cairns on that sector. Another 60,000 seats on top of QantasLink’s 100,000-plus is a big increase.

Real cost of travel

When TAA was mooted, Trades Hall vigorously opposed it, fearing it would destroy passenger rail jobs. It partly did, moving Queensland to tax intrastate air passengers – the levy of a lower rate on inland routes was a grudging admission air did some good. Later, permitting interstate buses to carry intrastate passengers killed off many country passenger trains, and now the low cost carriers have killed many bus runs. Still, Greyhound claims that a new business model based around cooperation between bus and air is viable.

Way back NSWGR ran a rail motor link to a subsidised DC-3 in Western NSW and regional airlines all ran bus links. Perhaps Greyhound’s idea of integrated bus/air links in the less fortunate areas makes passenger and rate/taxpayer sense.

Coastal Queensland air and bus operators receive no protection or subsidy, although rail is different. Recent figures show QLD taxpayers subsidise every regional train passenger from Brisbane-Cairns tilt train passengers by $550, and Townsville-Isa by $1433 (and proportionately every Townsville-Mackay passenger). Is this a fair and reasonable distribution of a subsidy?

Gladstone: E Jets in the next match?

Gladstone Council is making a major upgrade and extension of its booming airport, where the runway and taxiway have been hammered by high numbers of Q400 operations, which operate on a pavement dispensation. Tests show a maximum weight Q400 overloaded the degraded pavement by 60 per cent, and each one equals 60 DHC-8-300 movements. The E-190 is much heavier again.

The new sub pavement will meet 737-800 standards and the sealed pavement allows unlimited Q400 operations. The very complex project sees the runway reduced to around 1,000m in the critical stage, with RPT operations then only possible with the smaller, athletic Dash 8 200 which also handles Lord Howe Island’s 886m runway – a hark back to its Caribou ancestry.

Once completed, with Gladstone recently passing 200,000 passengers per annum (mainly to and from Brisbane) and several likely major new projects promising more very large passenger numbers Virgin may well put its E Jets on the run. Flight West once operated F-28s and some F100s on the run (also to Emerald and Longreach), but if recent growth continues 737s may quickly enter the run, requiring a matching pavement upgrade.

The full $65million cost was borne entirely by Council, and will be recovered from airport users after it was refused government support, even though the upgrade hardly lessens the price the Queensland government will get for its Gladstone port. This government is pocketing millions from airport sales, but has been unwilling to give much back to air infrastructure. Forcibly amalgamated councils seeking ways to reduce overlap costs, having been banned from sacking surplus staff, and stuck with little used airports too close together may have to axe some.

Heavy Lift: Fast

The ADF’s rapid response to the PNG Twin Otter crash (including C-17, C130 and Caribou aircraft) would have had to be magnified several times if a survivable wide body had been involved. Up to 20 aircraft overfly PNG daily, while supertankers and large cruise liners use its waters- all of which are potential major disaster generators on a scale far beyond local resources. As such, the case for acquiring a fifth C-17 has strengthened, particularly as the PNG Prime Minister has said that in disasters, only Australia can help- and not just in PNG. Yet we waste billions on handouts, not disaster response or defence.