Increased fees, taxes and regulatory costs imposed on Australian and New Zealand airlines have resulted in higher airfares and reduced services despite repeated warnings from industry bodies. <\/p>\n
While Jetstar on Thursday announced Christchurch-Sydney flights would return from late October, the airline is scrapping flights between Auckland and the Sunshine Coast, and Christchurch and Cairns. <\/p>\n
The budget airline cited lower-than-expected demand on both routes and a \u201csignificant rise in operating costs, including fuel\u201d.<\/p>\n
Airlines for Australia and New Zealand chair Graeme Samuel AC said his organisation had warned governments for some time that escalating taxes, fees, charges and regulatory costs imposed on airlines would inevitably result in higher airfares, reduced services or both.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe impact is felt most acutely on thin and marginal routes, many of which connect regional communities and are often served by low-cost and value carriers operating on tight margins,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen governments increase the cost of flying, these are typically the first services to come under pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cAirlines are already grappling with a significant increase in fuel costs driven by conflict in the Middle East. At the same time, governments continue to layer on additional taxes, charges and regulatory obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Samuel added the federal budget increased the passenger movement charge from $70 to $80 per traveller, while AusCheck credentialling fees for aviation workers have risen from $92 to $262 per employee.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeanwhile, Airservices Australia is proposing double-digit increases in air traffic control charges,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAdditional aviation security cost increases are expected, and airport passenger charges continue to rise at around twice the rate of inflation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe industry also faces substantial new compliance costs associated with accessibility reforms and forthcoming sustainability-related policy measures.\u201d<\/p>\n
The increases represented a \u201cgrowing cost burden\u201d that flows on to customers, Professor Samuel added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf policymakers continue to treat aviation as a source of revenue rather than an essential economic enabler, Australians and New Zealanders can expect fewer route options, less competition and higher airfares,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAffordable air travel should not become a luxury. It is vital to regional connectivity, economic growth and social inclusion. <\/p>\n
\u201cGovernments must carefully consider the cumulative impact of their decisions before more services are lost and more travellers are priced out of the market.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Increased fees, taxes and regulatory costs imposed on Australian and New Zealand airlines have resulted in higher airfares…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,187436],"class_list":["post-760618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-newswire-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760618","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=760618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}