Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I want to talk aviation because aviation and commercial flights
remain in the spotlight and with a shakeup to Quantus
management following a Senate inquiry revealing I guess what some
would say, we're pretty shocking practices within the industry or
some pretty shocking revelations within the industry and the impact
on passengers with those flight cancelations we know as well
(00:20):
at the Darwin Airport while the runway works get underway,
as well as the Northern Territory Government's aviation attraction scheme.
There has been a lot on the agenda in this space,
there is no doubt about it. And joining me in
the studio to talk more about some of what is
happening in the aviation industry is aviation expert Bruce Dale.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Good morning to you, Good morning Katy, Good morning listeners.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Now it's lovely to have you in the studio.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
You have got quite extensive experience across the board when
it comes to aviation. I know that you've worked with
the likes of Jetstar. You've worked here in the Territory
and right around the nation in the airline industry, haven't you.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yes, I have. I think the key thing where it
all started is. I actually did my master's degree looking
at the way remote and regional destinations are reliant on
aviation and what needs to happen to drive it forward.
So you know, the Northern Territory remote destinations have always
been true to what I'm interested in. Hopefully we can
make a positive change moving forward.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, and it's something that I suppose around Australia we
talk a lot about those flight prices as well when
you come to regional and remote Australia, particularly Northern Australia.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
So how do you reckon?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Over the last couple of weeks we've seen Quantus has
well and truly been in the spotlight, there's no doubt
about that. And we know that we've got a new
CEO coming into Quantus and I guess plenty of people
hoping that there's going to be a bit of a
refresh to the company. What are your thoughts on the
whole situation with Quantus at this point.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Certainly Quantus it's a brand many of us have felt
attached to. It is very sad to actually see them
in the position they are in now, but they are
going to have to work too to restore the trust
in the customers, and I think the new CEO, she's
going to be working through her own style what she
needs to do to make that happen. I think, first
(02:10):
of all, what is wonderful is the fact we've actually
got a female CEO that is so rare in the
aviation industry. They can bring different skill sets to a
problem and the way of looking at things, so we
will potentially get a fresh thinking and thresh thoughts from
that basis alone.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yeah, I think everyone's hoping so, aren't they.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And I'm hoping that they might have a bit more
of a focus on places like Northern Australia or Regional
Australia more generally.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Do you think we may see a bit of a
focus on Regional Australia.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Origional Australia is very much part of Quantuses Group's business practices.
I mean they've got the Quantus Link brand, they started
in Remote Australia. Of course, long Reach and Darwin as well.
What we need to understand though, is what we want
needs to be balanced against the commercial realities of running
a business which is actually virtually the same size as
(02:57):
the Northern Territory economy. It is huge. I looked at
the Quantus Annuel report last night, and people don't realize
that Quantus actually burns cash at the rate of five
hundred dollars a second course of this interview they're going
to they would have burned through three hundred thousand dollars cash.
So they have really got to focus on making sure
that they actually don't burn cash. Because airlines, as I've
(03:20):
told my other path, the best way to make a
small fortune in the airline industry is to start with
a large one yeah yo percent, go bust. So it's
getting those balances right between what is a commercial reality
as well as the absolute importance of serving remote regions,
because there's so many other factors such as keeping family
connected medical services which need to come into the equation
as well, which is beyond just an economic transaction.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Bru's one of the biggest things that we get asked
on this show is, you know, people sort of saying,
why is it so expensive to fly from Darwin or
from the Northern Territory to anywhere else in Australia. I mean,
can you talk us through some of the factors at
play when it comes to those flight costs.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Certainly I'll talk about the probably the the three key ones.
First of all, we are a long way from most ports.
This is a stat most people will not realize, but
ninety three percent of all the flights operated in the
world are shorter than Darwin to Sydney. Wow, So we're
actually punching above our weight in terms of distance. Float
(04:18):
a return trip from Darwin to Sydney, you're covering a
distance nearly one fifth way around the world. So it
is a long way. So we've got to reflect that
we are a long way. Secondly, i'd say is the seasonality.
So what seasonality is is you have peak periods and
slow periods. I'm sure we've all experienced that on tiger
Burn and drive driving in morning, it's busy going in
and then there's other times it's quiet a day. But
(04:41):
if we think about what happens in Darwin, everybody wants
to come here during the dry season. Then it drops
off in the wet season, and because airlines need to
keep flying year round, it puts such a strain when
there's so few passengers in the wet season. It actually
strains their economic performance. That also flows through tourism businesses
as well, like hotels. They experience exactly the same problem.
(05:04):
So those are the two key ones which actually driving
the prices, and the other one then is because we're
seasonal and we might not be able to fill the
seats as effectively as other parts of Australia. What we
need to remember is you've got to think how many
empty seats am I paying for? Yeah, not just your seat,
but how many empty seats we're paying for?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
And so does that That's obviously a factor at play
when you go to book your flights. If there is
only I suppose if there's a certain number of seats
on that flight and it's not a busy flight, then
you are actually paying extra because the flight.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Is not full potentially, So this is the other question
often get asked in the industry is why affairs or
when do I need to book for the best fares?
So what's happened since COVID is a lot of people
have delayed booking their travels, so they're often booking within
a week, month or maybe a few weeks, and airfares
work on the basis you've got quite a lot of
passengers who are paying less than cost, and then there's
(05:58):
a few passengers at the other extreme who are paying
above cost. So if you're leaving your travel booking to
the last minute, you're going to be in the fairbucke
who are playing well above the cost of operation, and
you're actually subsidizing everybody else who've got themselves organized and
booked to cheap fair. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Right, so it does actually pay to book early.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yes, we need to get back into booking early to
do that.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Now, tell me what opportunities do you see for new
airlines in the Northern Territory, Because obviously the Northern Territory
government had announced their aviation attraction scheme a couple I
guess probably six weeks ago, we'd interviewed the CEO of
Bonza Airlines.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
I mean, you worked for Jetstar.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
When it was when they were coming into the Northern
Territory and looking at the different the different routes that
they may introduce. So do you think that there is
capacity for us to have more airlines in the Northern
Territory and.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
That opportunity absolutely.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
The number of seats are available in the territory pre
COVID compared now, we've actually lost about a million seats,
So there's plenty of opportunity for new carriers to come
in and recapture some of what was lost. Also, new
carriers with different business models, different ways of service would
be well appreciated. Just with Bonza, I know one of
(07:13):
the senior execs there, Carlie Povey. She actually helped set
up an airline in the UK, or Jet Too, and
that consistently wins the best customer service of any airline
and it's often rated in the top ten for overall
customer service of any company in the UK. So bringing
that mindset, shaking things up, doing things different, that's what's
going to encourage new services and hopefully make people fly
(07:37):
over them and bring on competitions.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Oh we're all hoping, so are We were all waiting
and wondering if there are going to be any new
airlines into the market, and I know that the government's
sort of been They have been negotiating by the sounds
of things, with those airlines to see whether they can
get others into the territory. Do you think there's capacity
though not just for sort of around Australia but international flights,
additional international flights. Oh?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Absolutely. At the moment. The amount of seats are available
to places like Barley and Singapore well below pre COVID level.
The government data shows that those flights are going out
full and it's one reason why the prices are high.
I think because airlines know that they potentially can make
a little more money when demand is high supply demand,
basic economics which we might remember from school. The other
(08:23):
key opportunity is I think also for having better connectivity
to the north of Australia will make a significant impact
on the amount of time and distance that people travel
to get to Darwin. And the past year, offlown twice
to the UK for family reasons. Unfortunately, first time was
on the NonStop flight from Darwin to London and that
(08:46):
was actually distance of about thirteen thy eight hundred. The
next time was on an Amirates flight via Sydney in Dubai.
Wonderful service. But when I added up the amount of
distance I spent flying over the wonderfully beautiful Australian landscapes,
that came to thirteen thousand, four hundred kilometers. I spent
as long flying over as Australia as I could have
(09:06):
done flying to London. So if we don't have that
direct northbound connectivity, we're putting such a huge barrier to
our customers in terms of distance, price and also environmental
impact as well. We've got to get those international flights back.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Now, you said that we've lost around a million seats
since pre COVID.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
How do we get them back?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
The first thing I would say is we've got to
embrace the wet season. It's a wonderful time of year
to visit. People don't realize what it is that's up here.
I know last Christmas it was really brought home to me.
I was in the week before Christmas. I was looking
at airfares as if I was living in Sydney. In
the week before Christmas, Darwin was half the price of
(09:49):
flying to Melbourne. They had frequent flyer seats available on
every single flight going to Darwin. What that's saying to
me is it's Christmas time, the peak time, and airlines
are struggling to give away seats. What is going on there?
So we as a region need to actually sell the
benefits of coming to the territory in the wet season.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Now tell me, because we have spoken again, we've spoken
a lot with Tourism Central Australia and some of the
some of the loss of flights that they've seen as well,
but just how expensive it is in a lot of
ways to fly not only into other places from Alice
Springs or from Central Australia, but within the Northern territory.
Why is it so expensive to fly within the territory.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Two main reasons. First of all, we are a small
population and we've also used smaller aircraft, which by their
nature aviation is a business based on economies of scale.
So the bigger the aircraft, the cheaper the unit cost.
The smaller aircraft do come as a cost disadvantage, but
they are the right size aircraft for the market. Otherwise
again you pay too high affairs. The other reason, which
(10:58):
might be applicable for the territory is potentially the airport charges.
I know that if you actually go online you look
at the collective airport charges that would apply between a
flight between Darwin and our springs and that would actually
come to about one hundred and fifty dollars per person.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, there are factors. Airports are also very expensive businesses
to operate, and just like the airlines, if they don't
get the volumes of business coming through, those charges have
to go up on a per passenger basis as well.
So by getting those passengers through. That will create a
win win situation for everyone coming through the territory and
reliant on the territory business. Sorry, every business in the
(11:38):
territory is relied on the visitor economy.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
I guess the way I hear that though, is that
there's potentially capacity for some for the possibility of changes
if it comes sort of to having more passengers coming
into the Northern Territory. If we are able to get
more flights into the territory and get more airlines operating,
could we potentially see a reduction in those charges. I
know you don't work the at the airport, but could
(12:03):
you potentially see some changes to those charges.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Certainly, the base structure that airport charges are worked at
is very much dependent on the threepoot of the passengers.
So airports and airlines both recognize the more passengers that
are put through, the lower the charges become for both
the airlines and the airports. So we've really got to
start pumping those passengers through, particularly in the wet season,
(12:26):
so that it starts leading to lower airfares, potentially lower
airport charges, and also benefiting the economy so people have
jobs and we're not as reliant on say, full time
jobs here.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
So, by the sounds of it, if we could work
on that seasonality because I know that last week the
Northern Territory Tourism Minister did release the government's ambitions for
tourism by twenty thirty, so they've really set themselves what
I would describe as a very ambitious target of up
to two point eight million visitors accounting for an associated
spend of five point three billion dollars by twenty thirty.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
But they've said that three.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Additional priorities have been identified in that strategy, those being
resolving aviation access, reducing that seasonality, and their commitment to
sustainable practices. I mean, when you look at it, sounds
as though when you're looking at resolving some of the
aviation access issues, the seasonality actually has quite a big
part to play in that as well.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yes, seasonality will be critical because we've got to be
able to give the airlines the confidence that we can
as a community can fill the seats in the wet
season and give people a reason to come here, because
the core thing you need to remember about aviation is
that the demand for seats is actually driven by what's
happening in the destination. We've seen that down in our springs.
Unfortunately with the crime issues that impacts demand up here.
(13:45):
The wet season impacts demand here in Darwen. So if
you can find new ways of framing what's going on
here to give the customers the message that the NTI
is a fabulous place to come to the holiday regardless
of the time of year, that's going to help then
unlock that growth and investment decisions, whether it's airlines, hotels
or anything else like that.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Hey, before I let you go, we have spoken as
well over recent weeks about the major runway works that
are underway, obviously at the Darwin Airport, which did see
Jetstar cancel those services for a month from October on
its Darwin to Temps route. Do you reckon that we're
potentially going to see other disruptions to different routes or
(14:27):
is that a situation where it is just because it's
an international flight and they have to fly at a
certain time and you know there are other factors at play.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
It's a long program the runway works. But what I
will will how I frame this is places like Sydney Airport,
Gold Coast Adelaide, they all work with eight hour curfews
every single day of the year, so airlines are quite
used to actually working at airports where it might not
be able to use the runways. So the key thing
(14:59):
is once act you know what's happened, which has been released,
they're going to be in a position to be able
to plan and respond accordingly. So it's very easy to
retime flights to the other eighteen hours of the day
when the runway's open or something like that. So the
three week cancelation to Barli was very specific. It's just
because of international slots in Bali. But the response was
(15:20):
is once they had the surgergy on the runway, they
actually came back and increased their flights over the wet
season by twenty percent to help meet that demand because
they knew what they were going on and they're able
to negotiate with the Balinese authorities say we need these
slots so we can keep flying to Bali.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Well, Bruce, it's great to speak with you this morning.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
We really appreciate your time aviation expert, and good to
actually have a chat with somebody who's based locally as
well so we can get a better understanding, particularly when
you talk about regional Australia, which I know is a
big passion for you.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
So thank you very much for your time this morning.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Thank you, Katy appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Thank you
I want to talk aviation because aviation and commercial flights
remain in the spotlight and with a shakeup to Quantus
management following a Senate inquiry revealing I guess what some
would say, we're pretty shocking practices within the industry or
some pretty shocking revelations within the industry and the impact
on passengers with those flight cancelations we know as well
(00:20):
at the Darwin Airport while the runway works get underway,
as well as the Northern Territory Government's aviation attraction scheme.
There has been a lot on the agenda in this space,
there is no doubt about it. And joining me in
the studio to talk more about some of what is
happening in the aviation industry is aviation expert Bruce Dale.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Good morning to you, Good morning Katy, Good morning listeners.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Now it's lovely to have you in the studio.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
You have got quite extensive experience across the board when
it comes to aviation. I know that you've worked with
the likes of Jetstar. You've worked here in the Territory
and right around the nation in the airline industry, haven't you.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yes, I have. I think the key thing where it
all started is. I actually did my master's degree looking
at the way remote and regional destinations are reliant on
aviation and what needs to happen to drive it forward.
So you know, the Northern Territory remote destinations have always
been true to what I'm interested in. Hopefully we can
make a positive change moving forward.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, and it's something that I suppose around Australia we
talk a lot about those flight prices as well when
you come to regional and remote Australia, particularly Northern Australia.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
So how do you reckon?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Over the last couple of weeks we've seen Quantus has
well and truly been in the spotlight, there's no doubt
about that. And we know that we've got a new
CEO coming into Quantus and I guess plenty of people
hoping that there's going to be a bit of a
refresh to the company. What are your thoughts on the
whole situation with Quantus at this point.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Certainly Quantus it's a brand many of us have felt
attached to. It is very sad to actually see them
in the position they are in now, but they are
going to have to work too to restore the trust
in the customers, and I think the new CEO, she's
going to be working through her own style what she
needs to do to make that happen. I think, first
(02:10):
of all, what is wonderful is the fact we've actually
got a female CEO that is so rare in the
aviation industry. They can bring different skill sets to a
problem and the way of looking at things, so we
will potentially get a fresh thinking and thresh thoughts from
that basis alone.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yeah, I think everyone's hoping so, aren't they.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And I'm hoping that they might have a bit more
of a focus on places like Northern Australia or Regional
Australia more generally.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Do you think we may see a bit of a
focus on Regional Australia.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Origional Australia is very much part of Quantuses Group's business practices.
I mean they've got the Quantus Link brand, they started
in Remote Australia. Of course, long Reach and Darwin as well.
What we need to understand though, is what we want
needs to be balanced against the commercial realities of running
a business which is actually virtually the same size as
(02:57):
the Northern Territory economy. It is huge. I looked at
the Quantus Annuel report last night, and people don't realize
that Quantus actually burns cash at the rate of five
hundred dollars a second course of this interview they're going
to they would have burned through three hundred thousand dollars cash.
So they have really got to focus on making sure
that they actually don't burn cash. Because airlines, as I've
(03:20):
told my other path, the best way to make a
small fortune in the airline industry is to start with
a large one yeah yo percent, go bust. So it's
getting those balances right between what is a commercial reality
as well as the absolute importance of serving remote regions,
because there's so many other factors such as keeping family
connected medical services which need to come into the equation
as well, which is beyond just an economic transaction.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Bru's one of the biggest things that we get asked
on this show is, you know, people sort of saying,
why is it so expensive to fly from Darwin or
from the Northern Territory to anywhere else in Australia. I mean,
can you talk us through some of the factors at
play when it comes to those flight costs.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Certainly I'll talk about the probably the the three key ones.
First of all, we are a long way from most ports.
This is a stat most people will not realize, but
ninety three percent of all the flights operated in the
world are shorter than Darwin to Sydney. Wow, So we're
actually punching above our weight in terms of distance. Float
(04:18):
a return trip from Darwin to Sydney, you're covering a
distance nearly one fifth way around the world. So it
is a long way. So we've got to reflect that
we are a long way. Secondly, i'd say is the seasonality.
So what seasonality is is you have peak periods and
slow periods. I'm sure we've all experienced that on tiger
Burn and drive driving in morning, it's busy going in
and then there's other times it's quiet a day. But
(04:41):
if we think about what happens in Darwin, everybody wants
to come here during the dry season. Then it drops
off in the wet season, and because airlines need to
keep flying year round, it puts such a strain when
there's so few passengers in the wet season. It actually
strains their economic performance. That also flows through tourism businesses
as well, like hotels. They experience exactly the same problem.
(05:04):
So those are the two key ones which actually driving
the prices, and the other one then is because we're
seasonal and we might not be able to fill the
seats as effectively as other parts of Australia. What we
need to remember is you've got to think how many
empty seats am I paying for? Yeah, not just your seat,
but how many empty seats we're paying for?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
And so does that That's obviously a factor at play
when you go to book your flights. If there is
only I suppose if there's a certain number of seats
on that flight and it's not a busy flight, then
you are actually paying extra because the flight.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Is not full potentially, So this is the other question
often get asked in the industry is why affairs or
when do I need to book for the best fares?
So what's happened since COVID is a lot of people
have delayed booking their travels, so they're often booking within
a week, month or maybe a few weeks, and airfares
work on the basis you've got quite a lot of
passengers who are paying less than cost, and then there's
(05:58):
a few passengers at the other extreme who are paying
above cost. So if you're leaving your travel booking to
the last minute, you're going to be in the fairbucke
who are playing well above the cost of operation, and
you're actually subsidizing everybody else who've got themselves organized and
booked to cheap fair. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Right, so it does actually pay to book early.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yes, we need to get back into booking early to
do that.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Now, tell me what opportunities do you see for new
airlines in the Northern Territory, Because obviously the Northern Territory
government had announced their aviation attraction scheme a couple I
guess probably six weeks ago, we'd interviewed the CEO of
Bonza Airlines.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
I mean, you worked for Jetstar.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
When it was when they were coming into the Northern
Territory and looking at the different the different routes that
they may introduce. So do you think that there is
capacity for us to have more airlines in the Northern
Territory and.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
That opportunity absolutely.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
The number of seats are available in the territory pre
COVID compared now, we've actually lost about a million seats,
So there's plenty of opportunity for new carriers to come
in and recapture some of what was lost. Also, new
carriers with different business models, different ways of service would
be well appreciated. Just with Bonza, I know one of
(07:13):
the senior execs there, Carlie Povey. She actually helped set
up an airline in the UK, or Jet Too, and
that consistently wins the best customer service of any airline
and it's often rated in the top ten for overall
customer service of any company in the UK. So bringing
that mindset, shaking things up, doing things different, that's what's
going to encourage new services and hopefully make people fly
(07:37):
over them and bring on competitions.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Oh we're all hoping, so are We were all waiting
and wondering if there are going to be any new
airlines into the market, and I know that the government's
sort of been They have been negotiating by the sounds
of things, with those airlines to see whether they can
get others into the territory. Do you think there's capacity
though not just for sort of around Australia but international flights,
additional international flights. Oh?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Absolutely. At the moment. The amount of seats are available
to places like Barley and Singapore well below pre COVID level.
The government data shows that those flights are going out
full and it's one reason why the prices are high.
I think because airlines know that they potentially can make
a little more money when demand is high supply demand,
basic economics which we might remember from school. The other
(08:23):
key opportunity is I think also for having better connectivity
to the north of Australia will make a significant impact
on the amount of time and distance that people travel
to get to Darwin. And the past year, offlown twice
to the UK for family reasons. Unfortunately, first time was
on the NonStop flight from Darwin to London and that
(08:46):
was actually distance of about thirteen thy eight hundred. The
next time was on an Amirates flight via Sydney in Dubai.
Wonderful service. But when I added up the amount of
distance I spent flying over the wonderfully beautiful Australian landscapes,
that came to thirteen thousand, four hundred kilometers. I spent
as long flying over as Australia as I could have
(09:06):
done flying to London. So if we don't have that
direct northbound connectivity, we're putting such a huge barrier to
our customers in terms of distance, price and also environmental
impact as well. We've got to get those international flights back.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Now, you said that we've lost around a million seats
since pre COVID.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
How do we get them back?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
The first thing I would say is we've got to
embrace the wet season. It's a wonderful time of year
to visit. People don't realize what it is that's up here.
I know last Christmas it was really brought home to me.
I was in the week before Christmas. I was looking
at airfares as if I was living in Sydney. In
the week before Christmas, Darwin was half the price of
(09:49):
flying to Melbourne. They had frequent flyer seats available on
every single flight going to Darwin. What that's saying to
me is it's Christmas time, the peak time, and airlines
are struggling to give away seats. What is going on there?
So we as a region need to actually sell the
benefits of coming to the territory in the wet season.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Now tell me, because we have spoken again, we've spoken
a lot with Tourism Central Australia and some of the
some of the loss of flights that they've seen as well,
but just how expensive it is in a lot of
ways to fly not only into other places from Alice
Springs or from Central Australia, but within the Northern territory.
Why is it so expensive to fly within the territory.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Two main reasons. First of all, we are a small
population and we've also used smaller aircraft, which by their
nature aviation is a business based on economies of scale.
So the bigger the aircraft, the cheaper the unit cost.
The smaller aircraft do come as a cost disadvantage, but
they are the right size aircraft for the market. Otherwise
again you pay too high affairs. The other reason, which
(10:58):
might be applicable for the territory is potentially the airport charges.
I know that if you actually go online you look
at the collective airport charges that would apply between a
flight between Darwin and our springs and that would actually
come to about one hundred and fifty dollars per person.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, there are factors. Airports are also very expensive businesses
to operate, and just like the airlines, if they don't
get the volumes of business coming through, those charges have
to go up on a per passenger basis as well.
So by getting those passengers through. That will create a
win win situation for everyone coming through the territory and
reliant on the territory business. Sorry, every business in the
(11:38):
territory is relied on the visitor economy.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
I guess the way I hear that though, is that
there's potentially capacity for some for the possibility of changes
if it comes sort of to having more passengers coming
into the Northern Territory. If we are able to get
more flights into the territory and get more airlines operating,
could we potentially see a reduction in those charges. I
know you don't work the at the airport, but could
(12:03):
you potentially see some changes to those charges.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Certainly, the base structure that airport charges are worked at
is very much dependent on the threepoot of the passengers.
So airports and airlines both recognize the more passengers that
are put through, the lower the charges become for both
the airlines and the airports. So we've really got to
start pumping those passengers through, particularly in the wet season,
(12:26):
so that it starts leading to lower airfares, potentially lower
airport charges, and also benefiting the economy so people have
jobs and we're not as reliant on say, full time
jobs here.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
So, by the sounds of it, if we could work
on that seasonality because I know that last week the
Northern Territory Tourism Minister did release the government's ambitions for
tourism by twenty thirty, so they've really set themselves what
I would describe as a very ambitious target of up
to two point eight million visitors accounting for an associated
spend of five point three billion dollars by twenty thirty.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
But they've said that three.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Additional priorities have been identified in that strategy, those being
resolving aviation access, reducing that seasonality, and their commitment to
sustainable practices. I mean, when you look at it, sounds
as though when you're looking at resolving some of the
aviation access issues, the seasonality actually has quite a big
part to play in that as well.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yes, seasonality will be critical because we've got to be
able to give the airlines the confidence that we can
as a community can fill the seats in the wet
season and give people a reason to come here, because
the core thing you need to remember about aviation is
that the demand for seats is actually driven by what's
happening in the destination. We've seen that down in our springs.
Unfortunately with the crime issues that impacts demand up here.
(13:45):
The wet season impacts demand here in Darwen. So if
you can find new ways of framing what's going on
here to give the customers the message that the NTI
is a fabulous place to come to the holiday regardless
of the time of year, that's going to help then
unlock that growth and investment decisions, whether it's airlines, hotels
or anything else like that.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Hey, before I let you go, we have spoken as
well over recent weeks about the major runway works that
are underway, obviously at the Darwin Airport, which did see
Jetstar cancel those services for a month from October on
its Darwin to Temps route. Do you reckon that we're
potentially going to see other disruptions to different routes or
(14:27):
is that a situation where it is just because it's
an international flight and they have to fly at a
certain time and you know there are other factors at play.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
It's a long program the runway works. But what I
will will how I frame this is places like Sydney Airport,
Gold Coast Adelaide, they all work with eight hour curfews
every single day of the year, so airlines are quite
used to actually working at airports where it might not
be able to use the runways. So the key thing
(14:59):
is once act you know what's happened, which has been released,
they're going to be in a position to be able
to plan and respond accordingly. So it's very easy to
retime flights to the other eighteen hours of the day
when the runway's open or something like that. So the
three week cancelation to Barli was very specific. It's just
because of international slots in Bali. But the response was
(15:20):
is once they had the surgergy on the runway, they
actually came back and increased their flights over the wet
season by twenty percent to help meet that demand because
they knew what they were going on and they're able
to negotiate with the Balinese authorities say we need these
slots so we can keep flying to Bali.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Well, Bruce, it's great to speak with you this morning.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
We really appreciate your time aviation expert, and good to
actually have a chat with somebody who's based locally as
well so we can get a better understanding, particularly when
you talk about regional Australia, which I know is a
big passion for you.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
So thank you very much for your time this morning.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Thank you, Katy appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Thank you
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