H,
In NSW the state government determines RPT route licencing requirements based on the perceived and/or actual level of passenger activity. Some ports due to their large passenger traffic volumes may be declared 'open' where others are restricted to single, dual or more operators.
Ports which 'grow' traffic under a single licenced operator may be assessed as being able to support the competition of a second operator, etc, during subsequent NSW governmental deliberations. All operators require route licences due to NSW state government 'quality assurance' safety and service requirements.
Your 'whispers and snippets' seem to be suggestive of a 'hub by-pass' proposal. In Australia we generally have 'Hub and Spoke' operations with regionals feeding major cities and domestic and international service providers. In the northern hemisphere 'hub by-pass' operations have given real wings to regional jet operations since the late 1980's, commencing with Lufthansa Cityline and the CRJ 100. In a sense the Q400 and other high speed aircraft were partly developed to assist in servicing 'long and thin' secondary/regional routes.
When ATR announced development of the 600 series they were questioned in the media as to why they were not offering a speed increase (over the 500 series - 270/290 knots) with their product upgrade. In their reply EADS stated the ATR is optimised for high frequency short haul work and therefore additional speed was not necessary.
Industry route studies have shown that our population doesn't have the necessary density to sustain frequently scheduled point to point 'hub-by pass' operations between regional centres and secondary airports and with the distances between say Wagga Wagga and Brisbane, a transit speed of 350 knots would be needed in order to offer attractive schedule times and frequencies.
Although the demographics indicate insufficient regular business to support the necessary frequency of services, that doesn't mean someone won't try their hand.
The Oracle
Last edited by THE ORACLE; 17th Dec 2010 at 20:28.