New manager sought to oversee coveted airport slots

[Pelican Press 0]

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New manager sought to oversee coveted airport slots

Airlines will find it easier to secure coveted slots to land at Australia’s busiest airport with changes to increase competition as administrators pore over the financials of struggling would-be challenger Rex.

Transport Minister Catherine King on Monday announced a tender would open for a new manager to oversee airport slots at Sydney Airport.

Prospective managers will have to demonstrate how they will deliver on previous reforms and recommendations from reviews into the slot-management system.

They will also have to show how they will transparently mitigate any conflicts of interest.

Commercial flights require a slot to land at Sydney Airport, with 80 available each hour of its 6am-11pm operation.

A 2021 review from former Productivity Commission chair Peter Harris noted the key duty of the manager was to allocate slots among competing carriers, but priority was given to incumbents over market entrants.

Slot management has been overseen by a company majority owned by Qantas and rival airline ******* in a system former *********** Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims recently described as “just unbelievable”.

An overhaul of the slot-management role was announced alongside several other reforms in February.

The tender opening on Monday comes after another difficult week in aviation, with administrators appointed at regional airline Rex and the Boeing 737s that serviced its capital-city routes grounded.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ***** the blame for Rex’s turbulence on its expansion into those inter-city routes, while opponents pointed the finger at the domestic duopoly of Qantas and *******.

Dominant carrier Qantas has been accused of hoarding slots at Sydney Airport in a hit to competition, an allegation it denies.

Rex’s regional flights continue to operate and those routes get guaranteed slots at Sydney Airport.

The government has faced renewed criticism amid the airline’s financial woes for not taking swift enough action to benefit competition in the aviation sector.

But Ms King said Labor was getting on with the job of implementation, accusing the former coalition government of showing little interest in responding to the Harris recommendations at the time of the review.

Opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie again accused the government of dithering, saying the tender process would take months to complete.

Labor has also been accused of having too cosy a relationship with Qantas after Qatar Airways was denied 28 additional slots at Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane airports in 2023.

Ms King has offered a number of reasons for the rejection of Qatar’s application, including protecting the local aviation sector during its pandemic recovery, reducing emissions and an intrusive search at Qatar’s Doha International Airport on five *********** women.

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