{"id":499887,"date":"2026-02-24T00:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/499887\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T00:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:47:10","slug":"security-screening-at-burnie-airport-could-drive-airlines-away-airport-boss-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/499887\/","title":{"rendered":"Security screening at Burnie Airport could drive airlines away, airport boss warns"},"content":{"rendered":"

The cost of proposed security upgrades at Burnie Airport could force airlines to stop using it, the Burnie Airport Corporation has told a federal parliamentary inquiry.<\/p>\n

Appearing before a Senate committee in Wynyard yesterday, Burnie Airport Corporation leaders said the airport had been advised by the Department of Home Affairs that it meets the threshold to be reclassified from a Tier 3 to a Tier 2 airport.<\/p>\n

The change in security category would mean the airport in Tasmania’s north-west needs to introduce aviation security screening, at a cost the corporation estimated would be between $24\u201329 million.<\/p>\n

It would also lead to a large increase in airfares, it warned.<\/p>\n

Why do I have to take out my laptop at airport security?<\/a><\/p>\n

Some countries no longer require you to remove your shoes when passing through security \u2014 but taking out your laptop is still mostly required.<\/p>\n

The airport’s current Tier 3 designation means passengers flying on services out of the airport don’t undergo any passenger or baggage screening, including those flying on 70-seat QantasLink services to Melbourne.<\/p>\n

Burnie Airport Corporation director Rod Sullivan said the added costs of delivering screening could make services commercially unviable.<\/p>\n

“The pending security requirement actually creates a disincentive for growth, and even pressure to curtail existing services,” Mr Sullivan said.<\/p>\n

In its submission to the inquiry, the Burnie Airport Corporation said Griffith, Mount Gambier, Albany, Broken Hill and Merimbula aerodromes were also facing the same change to their security category.<\/p>\n

\"Exterior<\/p>\n

Burnie Airport is warning the costs of security screening could drive some airlines away. (WikiMedia Commons<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Terminal not fit for security screenings, Wilson says<\/p>\n

Burnie Airport Corporation chief executive Tyler Wilson told the inquiry the terminal “isn’t fit for purpose” and would require significant upgrades to accommodate security screening.<\/p>\n

In its submission, the airport estimated capital works would cost between $24 million and $29 million, depending on whether a new terminal is built, or the existing terminal is modified.<\/p>\n

Annual security screening operating costs are projected to be about $2.5 million a year, meaning a threefold increase in the airport’s operating cost overheads.<\/p>\n

The submission said without grant funding to pay for the capital works, Qantas would be required to stop operations at Burnie Airport.<\/p>\n

It also said that even with funding for the initial capital works, the ongoing costs would require an additional $170 per airfare for passengers flying on the QantasLink service from Burnie to Melbourne.<\/p>\n

The submission states this would leave QantasLink with “no practical option other than to cease services to Burnie Airport”.<\/p>\n

The airport also warned that if it sought to recover a share of the security costs from Rex and Sharp Airlines, whose planes fall under the 40-seat screening threshold, both carriers may withdraw.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Several regional airports are facing re-classification. (ABC South East SA: Selina Green)<\/p>\n

“In either scenario the loss of services would inevitably mean a significant downturn in passenger numbers, a result completely at odds with the apparent intent of the terms of reference established for this inquiry,” the submission said.<\/p>\n

The Home Affairs Department said airports were categorised according to several factors including risk, passenger numbers, and the seating capacity of planes using the airport.<\/p>\n

“Where an airport’s thresholds are trending upwards, we engage directly with the airport to consider a number of factors such as terminal design constraints, practicability of temporary facilities, and financial\/social implications.”<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said the department first contacted Burnie Airport in early 2024 about a possible change to its classification, and that any new security measures were managed on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson said airlines and airports were responsible for delivering aviation security, and how the associated costs were managed was a matter for individual airports, not the department.<\/p>\n

Regulation ‘threatening’ regional airports<\/p>\n

Mr Sullivan said the costs imposed by federal government regulation and policy were “problematic” for regional Australia.<\/p>\n

“I would go so far as to say that for the remote and very remote airports and airlines that service those airports, these cost pressures are really threatening the ongoing operation of services, and certainly threatening the establishment of new services,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Sullivan said an alternative funding model was necessary to help regional airports pay for security upgrades.<\/p>\n

“It would allow the expansion of security screening to airports without any considerations about whether that airport is consequently forced out of business,” he said.<\/p>\n

He proposed a uniform national levy on airfares across the country.<\/p>\n

“We are protecting the aviation network from unlawful interference, and every person who is prepared to fly should pay a common levy. Without that sort of significant policy change, then I think that aviation in regional Australia faces a very bleak future.<\/p>\n

Mr Sullivan said a $10 levy on the more than 160 million passengers nationally in the 2024-25 financial year would have raised $1.6 billion for airport security screening.<\/p>\n

\"Qantas<\/p>\n

Burnie Airport says without help to pay for security upgrades, Qantas would have “no practical option other than to cease services to Burnie Airport”. (ABC South East SA: Grace Whiteside)<\/p>\n

Regional aviation ‘very fragile’, MP says<\/p>\n

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kerry Vincent told the inquiry the regional aviation environment in Tasmania was “very fragile”.<\/p>\n

“Many regions are serviced by marginally viable, or unviable high-cost routes, with small populations, aging aircraft fleets, and limited ability for airlines and airports to absorb and recover rising airport regulatory and infrastructure costs.<\/p>\n

“These structural factors mean in key markets, the cost of providing services \u2026 exceeds the revenue regional communities can sustainably generate, placing essential routes under severe and ongoing pressure.”<\/p>\n

Federal Transport Minister Catherine King and Qantas have been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The cost of proposed security upgrades at Burnie Airport could force airlines to stop using it, the Burnie…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[25253,177685,64,63,91755,99,32645,142083,251473,3861,4206,251472,251474],"class_list":{"0":"post-499887","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-airport","9":"tag-airport-security","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-burnie","13":"tag-business","14":"tag-freight","15":"tag-link","16":"tag-luggage","17":"tag-qantas","18":"tag-security","19":"tag-security-screening","20":"tag-wynyard"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}