Increase airport tax to pay for new runway
Having failed to get airlines to pay for its second runway, Brisbane Airport Corporation is preparing to ask the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to approve a $2.50 increase in the passenger landing charge (airport tax) to fund a new parallel runway.
BAC chairman Bill Grant said the process could take at least a year, delaying the runway opening beyond 2020. BAC has demanded that Qantas, Virgin and other airlines fund a quarter of the $1.3 billion project cost by paying higher landing charges over the eight years it will take to construct the runway. He said the airlines had rejected the special $2.50 to $3.50 levy.
Brisbane is the worst-performing major airport in the nation.
BAC has spent $300 million building car parks during the past decade and recieves in more than $1.3 million a day in revenue, including close to $250,000 a day for car parking fees alone. BAC reported an operating profit of almost $170 million.
The airport faces further disruption later this year with the main runway due to be closed for repairs every night for at least a month.
Brisbane’s economy will loose $100 million a year if a new parallel runway is not completed by 2020, a study has revealed.
AccomNews is not affiliated with any government agency, body or political party. We are an independently owned, family-operated magazine.
