by Airlines will face penalties if they decide to cancel flights at Sydney airport without valid reasons, and could lose their take-off and landing slots, as the government aims to help smaller airlines better competition from Australia’s largest airport.
Federal transport minister Catherine King on Wednesday unveiled proposed changes to legislation governing Sydney airport, responding to concerns about alleged misuse of the airport’s take-off and landing slots.
Sydney airport is limited to 80 takeoffs and landings per hour and there is an overnight curfew to reduce noise for residents under the flight paths.
The government will crack down on airlines that are strategically canceling flights – but hanging on to valuable slots – by significantly increasing transparency about how slots are allocated and forcing carriers to provide reasons for cancellations or major delays , and details will be published regularly.
Related: One in 10 flights between Sydney and Melbourne has been cancelled. Is slot programming to blame?
Independent audits of slot usage will “detect and combat anti-competitive behaviour”, giving travelers information about the most reliable airlines but also allowing authorities to take action.
The first inspection will take place this year.
“To ensure that slots are not abused, the government will modernize the compliance system to include penalties that address anti-competitive behaviour, along with updated and strengthened enforcement tools so that the government can more closely monitor airlines and to take effective legal action when necessary,” King King said. said.
“This will benefit new entrant airlines looking to establish new services, combat slot abuse and create a more level playing field in slot allocation processes,” she said.
“We want to make sure we have a strong capacity here at Sydney airport to use slots, not pretend they’re going to be used, and we want to check to see if that’s happening. It’s certainly a signal to the airlines that the slots are not yours, they are Australian travellers.”
The government’s response addresses the frustrations of airlines, airports and industry leaders across aviation over the past several years who have accused larger airlines such as Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin of “slot booking”.
Slot booking is when airlines schedule more flights than they intend to run, before strategically canceling them so that no service is canceled more than 20% of the time so they keep the slot on competitor’s cost (known as the 80:20 rule). Weather cancellations do not count towards an airline limit.
Qantas Group and Virgin have consistently denied abusing slots. However, critics point to long-term average cancellation data, which shows that up to one in 10 flights between Sydney and Melbourne are cancelled.
Related: Sydney airport CEO accuses Qantas of strategically canceling flights to stifle competition
The new budget carrier Bonza as well as the previous only regional carrier Rex have consistently demanded better access to peak slots at Sydney airport to allow them to better establish flagship services around the country and compete on a route more meaningful to Qantas Group and the Virgin duopoly, which controls about 90% of the domestic market.
On Wednesday, King reiterated how vital Sydney airport was to the nation’s aviation routes, and how the new reforms should help reduce delays and disruption across the country.
“If Sydney airport sneezes, then the whole network has a cold,” King said.
Sydney airport chief executive Scott Charlton thanked the government for following through on the recommendations made by the Harris review, an inquiry ordered by the previous government to be delivered in 2020 and which later criticized the Coalition and the Albanian government for failing to do. respond to.
Before Charlton took over as chief executive at the end of 2023, Sydney airport had mooted the idea of tightening slot cancellation limits at Sydney airport to 95:5, but King rejected any changes to the 80:20 rule, which is a global standard. at major airports but critics said it was not fit for purpose for slot-constrained Sydney airport.
Regional airlines will also be given priority in the slot allocation process, so that they fly more at peak times to offer more services to regional residents who want to make day trips into the city for appointments.
There will be no changes to Sydney airport’s 11pm-6am night curfew, and the limit of 80 take-offs and landings per hour will be maintained, but a new “recovery period” will now be introduced after bad weather or other major disruptions. as security issues allow up to 85 movements per hour temporarily for a maximum of two hours after the disruption.
