Not a day to waste

The start-up phase is particularly costly for most operators building new routes and any relief on this front can be a good community investment with respect to long-term route viability. For example, reduced passenger head taxes and landing charges could be considered for a set period to ensure that the route remains on itsRegionsfeet for years rather than months. Council and operator partnerships should become the norm if we are to rebuild at least part of the sadly depleted regional route network.

On the opportunity front the emerging emphasis on Australian food exports to Asia could be a new dawn for regional communities and their air services. While the resources industry continues to be a very strong national economic contributor, the agricultural sector is alive to the food needs of China and other Asian nations. If this interest becomes a larger reality, executives and workers will require efficient, reliable access to regional centres. There may also be increasing work for charter operators as the need to explore and inspect as yet undeveloped agricultural land is realised.

The above concept may seem a long way off but New Zealand is already marketing its first class dairy products into Asia, and is reaping the rewards. Australia produces high quality, if relatively expensive food, that will be increasingly sought after by the emerging Asian middle classes. That food will often need to be brought to the market quickly. Regional aviation may be one of the first steps in the logistics chain and we will need to be ready.

If Australia is increasing its export focus every unnecessary impediment to business must be removed. This is why the federal government’s review of red tapeRegional aviation may be one of the first steps in the logistics chain and we will need to be ready. is strategically so important. Commercial aviation is drowning in over-regulation including arbitrary and indefensible timelines for vital approvals. It needs to be emphasised once again that operators are charged directly for much of the time spent by the regulator on particular approvals, and that the regulator is a monopoly provider of this service. It is a structural problem that can cause unnecessary and expensive delays to commercial aviation expansion.

Regional aviation will be taking very seriously the invitation by governmentto suggest practical methods for red tape reduction. Smaller but highly efficient government regulatory and operational services are the best way to underpin and develop commercial aviation. Large bureaucracies working in an uncoordinated fashion tend to stifle aviation growth because companies, particularly smaller operators, are spending a disproportionate amount of time on compliance matters. This latter issue has the potential to strangle the emergence of new aviation entrepreneurs.

Australia has declared to the world that it is under new management and open for business. While the recent senior trade missions are important and play their role, it is business and its logistics-oriented partners that will create the products and deliver them to the far flung markets. It is these businesses and operators that will grow Australia’s wealth and replenish Treasury’s coffers after the years of waste. It is time to give substance to the government’s declaration and forensically remove every unnecessary red and green tape barrier. It is already apparent that we do not have a day to waste.