Bankstown Airport Figures an Example of Aviation Decline
For anyone who has read the Bankstown Airport Preliminary Draft Master Plan, the graph on page 62 is interesting. It shows that fixed wing movements at Bankstown Airport have gone from 300,000 per annum in 2002/03 to about 180,000 in 2012/13. The report actually states that they believe there is going to be negative growth of -10.4% in the short term but then positive growth after that “due to an improving economy”.
How anyone would know this is beyond me – it’s just dream-world. When you have a regulator that is basically hostile to general aviation and has no idea how costs affect viability and you also have the air traffic control services provider bent on removing costs from its own operation and moving them to the industry (i.e. ADS-B), you can see what happens.
I think there is doom looming in the short term because I don’t see the slightest hint from our political masters that they have any understanding that removing unnecessary costs is so important in every field and, most importantly, in aviation if you want a viable and thriving aviation industry.
I believe we could be the leaders in the world in flight training, but for that you need a regulator that is on side. I don’t see this happening in the near future.