Airservices is seeking to raise charges for air navigation services by an average of 3.3 per cent a year over the five years from 2016 under its proposed new long term pricing agreement (LTPA).
The nation’s air traffic controller is seeking feedback on the LTPA, which covers charges for its enroute navigation, terminal navigation and aviation rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) services.
It says the price increase would fund new services, deliver safety and flight efficiency improvements and contribute to the development of the OneSky air traffic management system – which will combine Australia’s civil and military air traffic management systems, which are currently separate, into one program – as part of meeting future aviation growth.
And the price hike would follow real price reductions of 20 per cent since the first long term pricing agreement began in 2005, Airservices acting chief financial officer Paul Logan said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Importantly for our customers, the proposal will provide them with price certainty in a dynamic environment through to 2021,” Logan said in a statement.
“We recognise the importance of delivering cost efficient services to industry through containment of price increases and delivering savings to airline operations, particularly the delivery of aircraft fuel savings.
“As we prepare for our future air traffic management system, we need to continue to deliver to our customers and the industry tangible benefits; that of enhanced safety, improved operational efficiencies, reduced fuel costs and improved gate-to-gate performance.”
Under the proposed changes, Airservices said an Airbus A380 travelling from Singapore to Sydney would be charged an additional $589, or $1.74 per passenger. Meanwhile an airline operating a Boeing 737-800 from Brisbane to Melbourne would pay an extra $74, or 63 cents per passenger.
Airservices’ current long term pricing agreement is due to expire on June 30 2016. The organisation released its pricing discussion paper earlier in 2015.
The largest increase would occur in the first year of the proposed agreement LTPA, with a 5.3 per cent increase to cover new and expanded services that were established over the past three years but not included in the current LTPA.
The price jump reduces to 4.4 per cent in year two, before dropping further to 2.9 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 1.4 per cent over the following three years.
The full proposal can be found on the Airservices website, with feedback due by September 11.
Airservices is also holding a number of public consultation forums across the country over the next two weeks, with the details found here.
