Trans Tasman flights to be domestic ops
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Trans Tasman flights to be domestic ops
The other day I heared on the radio that the gov is considering making flights to NZ as domestic flights.
Does that only apply to RPT or would you be able to fly pvt aircraft from any airport in Oz to any airport in NZ.
I gather Aus/NZ would have to have a common border secuity department so ou could effectively clear Oz immigration /customs in NZ
Does that only apply to RPT or would you be able to fly pvt aircraft from any airport in Oz to any airport in NZ.
I gather Aus/NZ would have to have a common border secuity department so ou could effectively clear Oz immigration /customs in NZ
This idea comes up every now and then, and goes away just as often.
As you said, it would require the two countries making a common border agreement, and that's not likely.
Citizens of each country are permitted to travel freely between the two, but a common border would enable a foreign national to enter one country based on the visa issued by the other - not a situation either nation is going to enjoy.
As you said, it would require the two countries making a common border agreement, and that's not likely.
Citizens of each country are permitted to travel freely between the two, but a common border would enable a foreign national to enter one country based on the visa issued by the other - not a situation either nation is going to enjoy.
And here's why it didn't happen.......
I must admit I’m quite naive sometimes: I took politicians at their word in 2009 when they promised revolutionary changes to air travel between Australia and New Zealand that would slash trans-Tasman airfares by around 30 per cent, triggering a huge increase in the number of people travelling between the two countries.
I couldn’t see that the opposite was about to happen: not only would the politicians renege on their promise, but they would increase our sky-high travel taxes that would further hamper Australia-New Zealand travel.
Since Australia and NZ are English-speaking neighbours with much in common, the idea has been around for two decades to change the trans-Tasman air travel to domestic status, resulting in big savings for airlines and travellers alike.
Travellers would no longer have to pay the onerous Australian international passenger movement charge (PMC) and airlines would be able to process trans-Tasman flights through their Australian domestic terminals with much lower airport fees.
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Former Jetstar chief executive Bruce Buchanan became the idea’s enthusiastic champion.
"If you want an economic stimulus package and you want to drive tourism in the current environment, I can't think of anything that's going to drive a greater increase in passenger movements," he told me in 2009 as the airline business struggled to recover from the global financial crisis. "And if we want to bring the two countries closer together in terms of trade and economic integration, this is a great thing to do.”
Buchanan said the savings for the airlines would be about $60 per passenger one-way, reducing typical trans-Tasman fares from around $200 to $140 – the same as comparable domestic routes in Australia like Melbourne or Sydney to Cairns.
It would “just change the whole psyche of the trip”, Buchanan enthused. “You know the hassle of going to an international airport and all the crap you've got to go through to get through. But this would be a domestic terminal, 30-minute close-out, rock straight through and you're on your aircraft.”
Buchanan foresaw a raft of new trans-Tasman “city pairs” including regional destinations on both sides of the ditch, with places like Canberra and Newcastle receiving services and the resumption of trans-Tasman flights to other cities like Hobart and Townsville.
"Because of lower costs, you can stimulate new markets with lower pricing,” he said. “That means more markets like Newcastle-Auckland or Newcastle-Christchurch become viable because you don't have to have the high fixed costs of international travel built into the system.”
On the political level, there was much back-slapping and hand-shaking between New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Australia’s Kevin Rudd with visions of the social revolution that would ensue.
And then ... nothing happened. And nothing has continued to happen for another three years. I have been told the Kiwis were keen for the reclassification of trans-Tasman flights as domestic air services to proceed but the problem was at the Australian end.
Well, who would stand to lose tens or hundreds of millions of dollars if the Tasman suddenly became a common domestic sky? Of course! Australia’s privatised airports.
It reminded me of the furious lobbying at around the same time to prevent Melbourne’s Avalon Airport receiving federal government permission to begin receiving international flights – a process that’s still bogged down in red tape. As a result of that decision, the airport lost what are now up to double-daily flights to Kuala Lumpur with AirAsia X, which had been a strong supporter of Avalon’s development as a low-cost airport.
Since then, Canberra has continued to treat travellers as a cash cow, increasing the PMC a further 11.7 per cent to $55 for all international travellers entering or leaving the country.
That makes it the world’s biggest travel tax for short-haul international routes, exceeded only by the UK’s punitive Air Passenger Duty (APD) of up to $A142 per head for long-haul travellers.
And, as for the development of new trans-Tasman routes, the tax and airport charges regimes continue to make them unattractive. The only new year-round route developed in the past three years is a twice-a-week service between Sydney and Rotorua.
Air New Zealand is still struggling with its new Auckland-Sunshine Coast flights, which were operated twice a week this winter as a seasonal service. There is still not enough demand to operate them year-round.
The Australian Travel and Transport Forum (TTF) is pleading with Canberra to cut the PMC, noting that in the first month of the new $55 charge (combined with NZ’s $NZ25 departure tax), travel between Australia and NZ – collectively Australia’s busiest international air corridor – fell 4.5 per cent in July
Read more: Australia to New Zealand flights | Trans-Tasman fizzer
I couldn’t see that the opposite was about to happen: not only would the politicians renege on their promise, but they would increase our sky-high travel taxes that would further hamper Australia-New Zealand travel.
Since Australia and NZ are English-speaking neighbours with much in common, the idea has been around for two decades to change the trans-Tasman air travel to domestic status, resulting in big savings for airlines and travellers alike.
Travellers would no longer have to pay the onerous Australian international passenger movement charge (PMC) and airlines would be able to process trans-Tasman flights through their Australian domestic terminals with much lower airport fees.
Advertisement
Former Jetstar chief executive Bruce Buchanan became the idea’s enthusiastic champion.
"If you want an economic stimulus package and you want to drive tourism in the current environment, I can't think of anything that's going to drive a greater increase in passenger movements," he told me in 2009 as the airline business struggled to recover from the global financial crisis. "And if we want to bring the two countries closer together in terms of trade and economic integration, this is a great thing to do.”
Buchanan said the savings for the airlines would be about $60 per passenger one-way, reducing typical trans-Tasman fares from around $200 to $140 – the same as comparable domestic routes in Australia like Melbourne or Sydney to Cairns.
It would “just change the whole psyche of the trip”, Buchanan enthused. “You know the hassle of going to an international airport and all the crap you've got to go through to get through. But this would be a domestic terminal, 30-minute close-out, rock straight through and you're on your aircraft.”
Buchanan foresaw a raft of new trans-Tasman “city pairs” including regional destinations on both sides of the ditch, with places like Canberra and Newcastle receiving services and the resumption of trans-Tasman flights to other cities like Hobart and Townsville.
"Because of lower costs, you can stimulate new markets with lower pricing,” he said. “That means more markets like Newcastle-Auckland or Newcastle-Christchurch become viable because you don't have to have the high fixed costs of international travel built into the system.”
On the political level, there was much back-slapping and hand-shaking between New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Australia’s Kevin Rudd with visions of the social revolution that would ensue.
And then ... nothing happened. And nothing has continued to happen for another three years. I have been told the Kiwis were keen for the reclassification of trans-Tasman flights as domestic air services to proceed but the problem was at the Australian end.
Well, who would stand to lose tens or hundreds of millions of dollars if the Tasman suddenly became a common domestic sky? Of course! Australia’s privatised airports.
It reminded me of the furious lobbying at around the same time to prevent Melbourne’s Avalon Airport receiving federal government permission to begin receiving international flights – a process that’s still bogged down in red tape. As a result of that decision, the airport lost what are now up to double-daily flights to Kuala Lumpur with AirAsia X, which had been a strong supporter of Avalon’s development as a low-cost airport.
Since then, Canberra has continued to treat travellers as a cash cow, increasing the PMC a further 11.7 per cent to $55 for all international travellers entering or leaving the country.
That makes it the world’s biggest travel tax for short-haul international routes, exceeded only by the UK’s punitive Air Passenger Duty (APD) of up to $A142 per head for long-haul travellers.
And, as for the development of new trans-Tasman routes, the tax and airport charges regimes continue to make them unattractive. The only new year-round route developed in the past three years is a twice-a-week service between Sydney and Rotorua.
Air New Zealand is still struggling with its new Auckland-Sunshine Coast flights, which were operated twice a week this winter as a seasonal service. There is still not enough demand to operate them year-round.
The Australian Travel and Transport Forum (TTF) is pleading with Canberra to cut the PMC, noting that in the first month of the new $55 charge (combined with NZ’s $NZ25 departure tax), travel between Australia and NZ – collectively Australia’s busiest international air corridor – fell 4.5 per cent in July
Read more: Australia to New Zealand flights | Trans-Tasman fizzer
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Depending on how you look at it, it's nothing much of a change.
I understand that as far as Qantas pilots go, it's already a domestic leg when it comes to their pay packets and allowances.... !
I understand that as far as Qantas pilots go, it's already a domestic leg when it comes to their pay packets and allowances.... !
Seriously, if Europe can do it with different languages, different cultures and even countries that used to be at war with each other - why can't we get it together with NZ?
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Seriously, if Europe can do it with different languages, different cultures and even countries that used to be at war with each other
It is more likely to work between AU and NZ due to their relative geographical isolation and a shared culture and language. It's easier to control when there are only two countries involved and no land borders.
In Europe, it's a disaster.
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It's not working in Europe. Europe is not working ...
In Europe, it's a disaste
In Europe, it's a disaste
Europe is doing fine. Not perfect, but fine.
It is so much more pleasant to live on a (more or less) united continent with a single border than living in a patchwork of tiny, sniffy nations getting hot on their national sovereignty. And with the economy benefiting from that big times, Europe should be able to feed a few more immigrants...
If I fly from Oz to Europe the standard conversation with the random Australian next to me is:
"No you don't need to fill out immigration cards or any other ridiculous amount of paperwork to enter Europe... No it doesn't matter if you are a resident or tourist... Yes it's true you clear customs only at your first European destination... Yes afterwards you can travel through all of Europe without any more hassles (stay away from the UK tho
...)... Correct - No more visas or customs for ~27 States. No I'm not kidding you."Sure the Euro is in trouble right now, however it did well the years before and I'm quite confident it will again in a couple of years.
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If I remember correctly, prior to about 1979 you could travel between Aust and NZ without a passport.
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but one reason for Aust initiating passport control was due to NZ's "casual" immigration policy in relation to people from Polynesia. It was dead easy to get into NZ, and then a free pass to Aust.
maehhh
I applaud your patriotism for Europe. However, the Euro currency in its current state is not stable and will not survive. Ever since its creation it has been slowly self-destructing. Your confidence in the Euro will not alter this.
Europe is not doing just fine, it is tinkering on the edge of a melt down. Drastic measures are needed to overcome this. How do you get so many nations, with their own political goals, to come to any sort of an agreement?
A single currency seemed like a great idea for prosperity 12 years ago. That it only took 10 years to go pear shaped, shows how misguided it was.
I'm glad I am not confined to Europe right now.
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but one reason for Aust initiating passport control was due to NZ's "casual" immigration policy in relation to people from Polynesia. It was dead easy to get into NZ, and then a free pass to Aust.
maehhh
I applaud your patriotism for Europe. However, the Euro currency in its current state is not stable and will not survive. Ever since its creation it has been slowly self-destructing. Your confidence in the Euro will not alter this.
Europe is not doing just fine, it is tinkering on the edge of a melt down. Drastic measures are needed to overcome this. How do you get so many nations, with their own political goals, to come to any sort of an agreement?
A single currency seemed like a great idea for prosperity 12 years ago. That it only took 10 years to go pear shaped, shows how misguided it was.
I'm glad I am not confined to Europe right now.
Just get it over and done with and make it the 8th state already! They're all over here already while looking for C206 endorsements anyway!
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Happy to bypass customs on the way over there and on arrival but happy to have to go through customs to get back in here! That solves the issue. Aircraft arrive at the domestic gate in NZ and at the international terminal in Aus.
