The challenge with (some) airports
Alan Joyce
Former Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Qantas Airways Limited
A report into the performance of Australian airports was released this week. And there was one finding that should make every traveller stop and think.
It’s this: Australia’s four major airports are collecting 25 per cent more revenue per passenger in real terms than they were 10 years ago. Yet over the same period, airfares have fallen more than 40 per cent.
Companies deserve to make a profit. For airlines, that has meant being more efficient and delivering more value in a highly competitive market. We are better businesses as a result and the travelling public is the big winner (think free inflight Wi-Fi, new aircraft like the 787, lower fares).
But the major Australian airports are monopolies. They have very few constraints on their market power. That’s driven higher charges for passengers (like airport car parking) and higher charges for airlines – usually without a corresponding improvement in the product.
Analysis by Frontier Economics in the report showed that the profit margins of some Australian airports are more than double the margins of other airports around the world.
Qantas and Jetstar are among the backers of A4ANZ, which is the group behind the report. We strongly support its call for better regulation of monopoly pricing at airports. In the meantime, the travelling public will continue to wear the escalating cost.
Musician / Entertainer
6 年Would in flight live entertainment be worth considering on long flights? Kind regards Robert Symons
Could not agree more.
CFO and Corporate Finance advisory / fund raising
6 年I can still remember my first ever flight into Australia ( Sydney) ..very late at night .. all the baggage carts locked up and would only accept local coins .. however having just landed from NZ .. I didnt have any .. and the foreign exchange desks were closed? .... not exactly the most welcoming experience into a country .... so different to (say) Changi in Singapore which is a dream by comparison. One wonders why the private monopoly cannot be restructured into a competitive passenger-friendly service
Partner Huntington Accounting Solutions
6 年Mr Joyce love your work
Ofcourse. A2C- Airport to customer. , B2C - Business tp Customer , B2B is business to business , AI IS artificial Intelligence, IOT is internet of things, DLT is blockchain or distributed ledger. Thanks for the suggestion.