Perth Airport Australia's Most Cost-effective: ACCC

2022-06-07

The report shows that following the negotiation of new Aeronautical Service Agreements in 2018, aviation revenue per passenger has declined.

Perth Airport was able to reach agreement with 24 out of the 25 airlines operating at the airport at the time. The data confirms that those airlines have been delivered reduced aviation pricing.

At the same time, the ACCC data shows that Perth Airport’s quality of aviation service (as rated by airlines) was the best of any of the major airports leading into Covid (when the rating process was temporarily suspended.)

The report also shows that Perth Airport’s “on time departure performance” was the best of any of the major airports for seven consecutive years leading into Covid.

Chief Executive Officer Kevin Brown says the ACCC data confirms that Perth Airport is delivering value for money.

“The aviation sector has been through a nightmare two years due to the pandemic and the impact on airports of Covid has been brutal,” Mr Brown said.

“Airports have not received the same level of government support as airlines, but we have worked through these challenging times.

“I’m really proud of our team for ensuring we kept our runways and terminals operating throughout this period despite suffering significant financial losses.

“We did the right thing by Western Australia, our partners and the national economy by ensuring our FIFO workers could travel safely to keep the resources sector up and running.

“The ACCC has now confirmed that we are delivering reduced aviation prices and high-quality services for our airline partners, our passengers and the community.”

“The independent Productivity Commission has also strongly endorsed over many years the current regulatory system as being fit for purpose and serving the interest of the community.”

Perth Airport says the ACCC report’s reference to Perth Airport “returning a profit” in FY20 and FY21 is misleading in that it confuses EBITA with profit. Some of the ACCC references to profit also include profit from property operations and therefore should not be included in an analysis of aviation operations.

Perth Airport declared a loss of $64.5million in FY21 – representing a 163 per cent fall on the net profit after tax recorded in FY19 ($102.4m) - the last full financial year where there was no Covid travel restrictions.