Qantas’s executive of government and corporate affairs David Epstein has launched an attack on regional airports in mining centres which have raised their passenger charges.
Epstein told attendees at the Australia Pacific Aviation Outlook Summit that an “overwhelming number” of regional airports, predominately those owned by councils, had their natural advantage and “uninhibited use of market power” to charge capital city rates while not delivering similar levels of service. Epstein did not target councils specifically as he “did not want to go to war” with council-run airports, but said that the airline wanted to work more closely with them.
The latest comments from Epstein follow similar attacks by other Qantas Group executives on airports around the country for their charges. In May Jetstar withdrew its Brisbane-Rockhampton services after it could not reach a comemrcial agreement with Rockhampton Airport.
