Sydney Airport has applied to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to allow it to increase security, passenger facilitation and runway charges for regional airlines for the first time since 2001.
The proposed changes will see security charges rise three cents to 90 cents per passenger, passenger facilitation charges at Terminal 2 increase by 13 cents to $4.63 per passenger, and runway charges increase by 10 cents to $3.54 per tonne. The airport says that the proposed fees represent a 2.9 per cent increase, representing one year of inflation and is significantly less than the 28.9 per cent increase in the CPI since 2001.
“Sydney Airport is unique in the Australian aviation industry in that its regional aeronautical fees are subject to government price regulation, so the approval of the ACCC will be required before the increases take effect,” said the airport’s CEO, Russel Balding.
Sydney Airport says that the charges will not apply to QantasLink, Jetstar or Virgin Blue, which have separate commercial agreements with the airport, while there will be no changes to regional airline access.
Transport Minister Anthony Albanese recently moved to extend a determination which effectively limits Sydney Airport’s ability to increase charges only by the CPI.
