WESTERN Australia’s intrastate air services have received a long-awaited shake-up, but Transport Minister Troy Buswell is disappointed more routes couldn’t be opened up to competition.
WESTERN Australia’s intrastate air services have received a long-awaited shake-up, but Transport Minister Troy Buswell is disappointed more routes couldn’t be opened up to competition.
The most significant, but still widely expected, of the changes was the deregulation of the Perth-Geraldton route; previously open only to Skywest, there will now be open competition on the route.
Also new is a twice-weekly service linking Perth and Busselton, and a semi-deregulation of the Perth-Exmouth route under which Skywest and QantasLink will go head to head.
Most carriers will continue on the routes they previously held, with Skippers Aviation and Skywest remaining the big two local carriers, while Virgin and Qantas will also be operating on the deregulated routes.
WA has maintained its unusual mix of protected routes to smaller centres such as Meekatharra and open competition on the more populated routes to tourist towns such Broome, or population hubs like Kalgoorlie and, now, Geraldton.
Mr Buswell said 70,000 passengers travelled annually between Perth and Exmouth, making it a strong candidate to withstand two-carrier competition.
The City of Geraldton-Greenough has welcomed deregulation, with mayor Ian Carpenter saying the $2.6 million upgrades recently completed at Geraldton airport would support the decision.
“Deregulation will offer increased competition, which we would expect will lead to more competitive airfares and substantially increased traffic through our airport,” Mr Carpenter said.
“Geraldton is seeking to reinforce its position as the capital of Australia’s coral coast and will seek to leverage off the airport upgrades to get more direct interstate services into Geraldton.”
Up to 90,000 passengers also travel through Geraldton’s airport each year, but Labor transport spokesman Ken Travers has raised concerns that number is not enough to sustain deregulated services.
“The deregulation of Geraldton airport is likely to lead to competition and cheaper airfares in the short term, but the Barnett government must guarantee that it will not result in a single airline and increased fares in the long term,” Mr Travers said.
“All the evidence across Australia has shown that airports with less than 150,000 passenger movements per year have not been able to sustain more than one airline.”
Tourism Council WA chief executive Graham Moss said the changes were generally positive, although he had some concerns the Carnarvon/Monkey Mia/Kalbarri route had been transferred from Skywest to Skippers Aviation.
“We want to make sure that the quality of the current service wasn’t diminished, in terms of the size and type of aircraft, frequency of service and the ability of the airline to participate in a global distribution system in terms of booking,” Mr Moss said.
“We would hope that Skippers can deliver that quality of service.”
Mr Buswell said he was disappointed more routes, particular those linking Perth with Albany and Esperance, weren’t opened to competition.
Skywest will continue to operate 18 flights each week to both Esperance and Albany.
“Skywest has a good reputation and, while it is disappointing the airlines were not prepared to operate the route in competition, this is still a good outcome for businesses, tourism operators and the Albany and Esperance communities,” Mr Buswell said.
Qantas has welcomed the opportunity to compete with Skywest on the Geraldton route, with regional manager Ian Gay saying the carrier would also look into extending services into Geraldton.
“This will be a welcome addition to our operations in the north of the state, providing new air links for the local community and the business, tourism, mining and energy sectors, and connecting to the broader Qantas domestic and international networks,” Mr Gay said.
“We also welcome the government’s decision to deregulate the Perth-Geraldton route and will now assess options around a possible future operation to Geraldton.”
The regulations will come into effect at the end of February, and will remain in place for at least five years.
