No ‘ticket to recovery’ for remote and regional airports

The
Federal Government’s new tourism and aviation support package will do little to
ease the crisis facing many regional airports, the Australian Local Government Association
(ALGA) said today.

While
acknowledging the $1.2 billion package will help the struggling aviation and
regional tourism sectors transition past the end of the JobKeeper program, ALGA
said it offered nothing substantive to regional airports, many of which are
struggling to survive.

Since
the onset of the pandemic, revenues at some local council-owned airports have
collapsed by as much as 90 percent.

Moreover,
despite sharply fewer regular airline flights, councils are still having to pay
the full costs of compliance, safety, and maintenance for their airports.

ALGA
President Cr Linda Scott said councils are grateful for ongoing federal and
state government programs to support or enhance aviation safety and
accessibility.

“There
are almost 4000 jobs generated by regional and remote airport precincts across
the country and given the uncertainties about when the pandemic will be brought
under control, federal and state governments need to reconsider their level of
direct support for local government.

“Local
government has been given little direct financial support during Covid-19,
apart from subsidies to help meet the costs of government-mandated security
screening of passengers and freight,” Cr Scott said.

“Because
of the rising costs of compliance, few regional airports came to this crisis in
strong financial position.

“Nonetheless,
they have waived landing fees and passenger levies for airline operators so
their communities can continue to travel for work, health or education.”

Cr
Scott added that because local governments were not eligible for JobKeeper
payments, councils have struggled to hold on to airport staff.

“There’s
a real risk that without further direct support, these skilled people will
leave their communities in search of work elsewhere – making a return to normal
operations for regional airports extremely difficult in the short term.”

About
200 airports are owned by councils, and besides keeping local communities
connected with large urban centres, these facilities are needed for medical
services and disaster emergencies.

Local
government is committed to keeping its airports open, even where these are
running at a loss and require cross-subsidies that hamper the ability to
deliver essential services and functions.

“We’re
now at a point, however, where councils are looking to have to cut community
services to sustain their airports,” Cr Scott said.