Airline calls for Fed Govt rural subsidy
Posted
The New South Wales airline Regional Express wants the Federal Government to do more to help maintain air links to smaller rural centres.
Rex spokesman Warwick Lodge says the Federal Government wants to phase out the en-route charges subsidy that has been in place since Ansett collapsed.
He says it only costs $6 million a year and cuts should not be made in such a tough regional aviation climate.
Rex is pulling out of Sydney to Mildura services in early November citing six years of losses on the route.
Mr Lodge says the Federal Government should also be helping country councils maintain airports.
"We believe that the [Federal] Government does have a role to play in terms of assisting regional councils and airport owners in terms of the ongoing infrastructure costs," he said.
"Some of these infrastructure costs to do with runways, aprons, taxiways, can be quite significant."
Mr Lodge says small routes like Mildura with around 8,000 passengers a year will become harder to maintain.
"Fuel prices are high, regulatory costs are high," he said.
"We've got airports that are implementing additional security measures, which places increased pressure on the ticket prices.
"We don't have anything planned at the moment in terms of earmarking any exits or withdrawals, but there are a lot of smaller regional airlines that will find it increasingly challenging over the next 12 to 18 months."
