Tickets for flights out of the biggest city in regional South Australia will rise by an “unsustainable” $90 if the council is not able to get assistance to pay for installing security screening.
Mount Gambier airport, in the state’s south-east, is currently exempt from security screening, but has been told it is nearing passenger number thresholds that would trigger mandatory screening.
The District Council of Grant, which operates the airport, has said security screening will cost in excess of $1.5 million up-front, and $300,000 each year.
Council chief executive Darryl Whicker said increasing flight costs to Adelaide and Melbourne by $90 would risk making the airport unsustainable.
“Airports need to have frequency of flights and affordability,” he said.
“Any impact that increases ticket prices substantially will reduce affordability which means people won’t travel and therefore airports become unsustainable.”
The Mount Gambier airport will soon need to add security screening due to the number of passengers. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)
A national concern
Australian Airports Association (AAA) chief executive Simon Westaway said he had heard similar concerns across the country on a recent tour of regional airports.
“A lot of these airports are council-run and owned, and the margins are finite,” he said.
“Fifteen per cent of the overall Australian market for air travel is regional flying.
“The reality is if [costs] go up, they need to be managed.”
Former senator and current SA Senate candidate for the Jacqui Lambie Network Rex Patrick said regional passengers paid significantly more per flight for security screening than their city counterparts.
“At Port Lincoln Airport, passengers pay about $15 per ticket, $45 at Whyalla, and, as will be the case soon, $90 per passenger at Mount Gambier,” he said.
“Yet passengers in Sydney pay only 70 cents.”
Rex Patrick (second from left) met with the Grant District Council to discuss the cost of security screening. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)
Implementing the fee in Whyalla caused a significant drop in passengers, from 1,500 per week to 900 per week.
Rex Airlines also halted services to Whyalla.
Mr Whicker said a reduction in flights to Mount Gambier would impact a number of critical services for the region.
“We can attract teachers, doctors, nurses and allied health professionals from Melbourne and Adelaide,” he said.
“An airport is just as valuable as a hospital, as education, and all those other services that regional communities rely on and enjoy.“
The Whyalla airport experienced a drop in passengers when it added the cost of security screening. (Supplied: Whyalla City Council)
Proposal to share costs
If successful in the federal election, Mr Patrick and Senator Jacqui Lambie promised to introduce a bill to share the costs of security screening between all passengers in Australia.
“We need to have a regime in Australia where each passenger pays a levy for security screening costs, and that levy is used to fund the security screening costs all around the country,” Mr Patrick said.
“What that means is people in Sydney who now pay 70 cents per passenger might have to pay a dollar.
“But it means that the people in Mount Gambier, instead of having to pay $90 will also only have to pay a dollar.
“It’s a national security cost, it shouldn’t be borne by local councils.“
Mr Westaway said the AAA would push for more support for regional airports with the next federal parliament.
“We need to see a more sustainable commitment of funding to support both capital and operational requirements at our regional airfields,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Department for Home Affairs said it worked with airport operators to ensure appropriate security measures were in place.
“Within the aviation security framework, airports and airlines are responsible for delivering aviation security requirements and managing day-to-day security operations, including the associated costs,” they said.
