Airports Archives - Consumers' Federation of Australia

27 August , 2024

Advocates Welcome New Aviation Transport Standards, Urge Genuine Co-Design with People with Disability

The Justice and Equity Centre (‘JEC’) and People with Disability Australia (‘PWDA’) welcome today’s White Paper announcing the Government’s intentions to develop new Disability Standards for air travel. This is a significant first step in addressing longstanding discrimination by airlines which has prevented people with disability from being able to travel by air equally with…

22 August , 2024

ACCC Finds New and Expanding Airlines Face ‘significant challenges’ as Concern Remains Over Domestic Airline Competition

The ACCC will continue to closely monitor domestic airfares on services between metropolitan cities following Rex’s withdrawal from this market, the ACCC’s latest domestic airline competition report states. The report shows improved conditions for consumers with declines in airfares, reduced cancellations and improved on time rates for flights over the first half of 2024. However, the ACCC…

21 May , 2024

Airline Travel and Capacity Returns to Pre-Pandemic Levels

Australia’s aviation sector appears to have recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic as passenger levels and capacity returned to pre-pandemic levels, the ACCC’s latest Domestic Airline Competition in Australia report reveals. Australia’s major airlines—Bonza, Jetstar, Qantas, Rex and Virgin Australia —carried 4.9 million domestic passengers in March 2024, which represented 98.8 per cent of passenger figures in March…

14 February , 2024

Airfares Cheaper But Cancellations and Delays Increased in 2023

Domestic airfares generally fell last year after reaching record highs in late-2022, but cancellations and delays remain higher than long-term industry averages, the ACCC’s latest Domestic Airline Competition in Australia report reveals.

The report shows that average revenue per passenger, which represents average prices across all fare types, was 13.4 per cent lower in December 2023 than in December 2022, in real (inflation-adjusted) terms.

19 December , 2023

Consumer Groups Call for New Passenger Rights for Flyers as Delays and Cancellations Continue

A new survey of almost 9000 supporters from consumer group CHOICE has found 40% of respondents had a flight cancelled or delayed in the past 12 months.

“As we head into the Christmas season, a huge number of people will be relying on flights to visit family and friends. Unfortunately, our survey of almost 9000 people from across the country has found consumers still face a number of difficulties when dealing with the aviation industry,” says CHOICE Senior Campaigns and Policy Advisor, Bea Sherwood.

21 August , 2023

Airport Finances Impacted by COVID-19

Due to COVID-19, all Australian airports have recorded noticeable drops in their financial performances since 2018-2019 with Sydney and Melbourne airports by far the most negatively affected with both airports profit margins dropping by 48% in 2021-2022.
Unfortunately, the data airports are required to submit to the ACCC lack the detail necessary to determine if or how much their natural monopoly is being used – something both the ACCC and airlines have raised as concerns.

5 June , 2023

ACCC: Australian Domestic Airline Competition at Critical Juncture

The ACCC data shows Australian domestic airline market as a place dominated by Qantas and Virgin, with those two airlines accounting for over 90% of domestic airline travel over the past 3 years. Even with the launch of Bonza and the expansion of Rex to intercity flights, the duopoly of Qantas and Virgin is unlikely to be significantly impacted in the short-term.

17 March , 2023

Domestic airfares fall but prices remain above pre-pandemic levels

This is a media release from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. It was originally published on March 7th 2023 and can be found on the ACCC website here, with graphs. Domestic airfares have declined from historic highs at the end of 2022; however, they remain above 2019 prices, the ACCC’s latest Airline Competition in Australia…

21 July , 2016

CHOICE launches Complane

CHOICE has introduced their new consumer assistance tool: Complane. Complane has been developed to minimize the number of difficulties that travelers have making complaints with airlines when their flights are delayed or canceled. CHOICE recently conducted a study into passenger travel, revealing that over the past year, over 23 per cent of travelers faced either…