The Australian government is announcing what it terms a ‘major package of reforms’ to the Sydney Airport demand management scheme, updating the current demand management system to ‘encourage competition’.
Although no changes will be made to existing curfew arrangements or movement caps (currently set at 80 flights an hour), the government plans to ‘significantly increase transparency about how slots are allocated’, alongside monitoring information on how slots are used, conducting independent audits and imposing penalties for anti-competitive behaviour.
The first independent audit of slot usage will be carried out this year, ‘meaning that misuse of slots will be uncovered and acted upon as soon as possible’ notes the government, which will also publish results of the findings.
Slot allocation will also benefit new entrant airlines wanting to set up a new service, with regional New South Wales services able to apply to use any slot during new peak period hours. This will improve connectivity for regional communities and help the airport ‘better operate in the way it was always intended to’. Additionally, a new strictly controlled ‘recovery period’ will temporarily allow up to 85 movements per hour to minimise disruption after weather events or other major disruptions.
The government believes these reforms will benefit the flying public and will be consulting with community and industry organisations on the best way to implement them ahead of legislation being brought forward to Parliament. Qantas supports the outlined measures, stating: ‘More transparency in the slots system is a positive step that will help clarify recent public debates on how the system works and demonstrate that claims Qantas has been hoarding slots are wrong’.
Australian government to reform Sydney airport slot system
