Minor aviation players at Sydney Airport are complaining of massive rate rises – some as much as 2,300 per cent – as the operator defends the increases as long overdue.
Members of the General Aviation (GA) sector have taken to LinkedIn reporting Sydney Airport’s new significant increases in charges for parking aircraft.
In a post by Airly Group director and CEO Luke Hampshire on Wednesday, GA operators expressed disbelief at the new rates, which will affect only GA aircraft, not major passenger airlines.
The proposed charges will see parking rates increase from a flat rate of $140-$280 per calendar day (depending on the weight of the aircraft) to a new rate of $35 per 15 mins for the first three hours, and $3,220 per day for over three hours (regardless of the aircraft’s weight).
Sydney Airport general manager – Aviation Commercial Joe Walsh said that the parking charges really only begin to increase after three hours, which is the current average time that GA aircraft park there.
“GA aircraft parking for three hours or less, which is the current average parking period for GA aircraft, will be a maximum of $420.”
Most domestic services park for around 45 mins or less, and most international aircraft park for three hours or less as well.
Walsh told us that these changes are long overdue, as there has been no price increase for about 10 years.
“In the past 10 years, General Aviation (GA) flight movements have increased by 28 per cent, while parking charges for GA have not changed. Demand is now outstripping supply for GA parking and creating congestion on the apron for passenger services.
“The proposed charges have been designed to incentivise short-term parking by GA operators and to align daily parking rates with international and domestic airline users of the airport.
“These charges will predominately apply to private jets – emergency services aircraft are exempt,” he added.
In the discussion on social media, Hampshire acknowledges that the current parking price he pays as a GA operator ($140/day) is “grossly underpriced”, leading to the ramp always being congested. But he says although a price increase is justified, the jump is too big.
There’s also concern amongst GA operators that higher rates at Sydney Airport will push more traffic to nearby run-off airports such as Bankstown and Camden. Hampshire said, “Bankstown is already stretched thin. Pushing more traffic there will create bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and risk.”
Other concerns listed by Hampshire include increasing carbon emissions from aircraft having to reposition, inflated costs for travellers, reduced traffic to Fixed Base Operators (FBOs) and maintenance providers losing volume, leading to concerns over safety and reliability.
Walsh told us that Sydney Airport would be doing everything possible to ensure the airport is being used efficiently.
“Sydney Airport is an important national asset which facilitates more than $42 billion for the economy every year and accounts for more than 330,000 direct and indirect jobs. It is our responsibility to ensure the airport is being used efficiently and in a way that continues to maximise its economic and social contribution.”
“We acknowledge the potential impact these proposals could have and will listen and work constructively with GA operators during the consultation period,” he added.
Travel DAZE in Cairns May 13-14
Aviation will be one of the key topics to be discussed at this year’s Travel DAZE conference in Cairns. Fly into the Future will be hosted by Simon Westaway, the newly-minted CEO of the Australian Airports Association and steward of 340 airports nationwide. Simon will be hosting a panel discussion with the industry’s leading executives from across the aviation sector.
