Monday, 16 October 2023
THE region’s local councils and communities should be on alert and prepared to fight to save regional passenger air service slots at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport, Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall has said today.
Mr Marshall said the recent release of the Australian Aviation to 2050 Green Paper by Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King, which includes plans to review and reform the slot allocation system at Sydney Airport, sent out danger signals for the regions and looked like a case of history repeating itself.
“We’ve lived through efforts to reform the slots at Sydney airport before and every time it’s come down to trying to remove the regional slot ringfencing provisions, in favour of more profitable international flight slots,” Mr Marshall said.
“In 2012, the then Federal and State governments released the Joint Study on Aviation Capacity in the Sydney Region, which, if adopted, would have made it easier to fly into Sydney from overseas rather than from country NSW.
“While this proposal was eventually dropped, following some ferocious lobbying, it appears to be raising its head again.
“In my view a slot is a slot whether it’s a jumbo jet or a Dash 8. We should not be called on to sacrifice any of the slots currently allocated to the regions to cater for growth or a desire to increase profits.
“We must join together and demand an assurance from the government that it will not accept these recommendations and the regions will not be sidelined now or in the future.”
Mr Marshall said it appeared the government was looking for a lifeline to avoid difficult conversations with airlines about the use of the Western Sydney Airport – Sydney’s second international airport.
“They’ve been dithering on this issue and we in the bush must not become the fall guys,” Mr Marshall said.
“The argument can’t just be all about Sydney. It also has to be about the priorities of the regions and their need for direct access to the state’s major metropolitan airport.
“Either the Sydney airport authority enlarges the current facility to deal with the increasing traffic or government pushes some international flights and routes to the new international airport, it’s as simple as that.”