The Federal Government’s Aviation White Paper: Towards 2050 was released at the end of August as Regional Express, or Rex, entered voluntary administration.
At its September meeting, the Secretariat presented the RCA board with a summary of the White Paper and its implications for our membership.
RCA’s submission on the Aviation Green Paper submitted last December highlighted a regional airport was one of the hardest working assets in any community.
Despite largely being owned and operated by Local Government, the facilities allow State and Federal Governments to deliver services that range from healthcare, emergency services and border protection, as well as connecting agriculture, tourism and mining to broader opportunities.
The submission further highlighted that the recent administration of both REX and Bonza airlines increased vulnerability of regional aviation and asked the Government to heed the warning of ongoing challenges to the viability of these assets.
The board noted three of RCA’s recommendations were reflected among the policy initiatives in the Federal Government’s new vision for the aviation sector.
These were:
- Implementing a policy recognising the importance of regional airports in increasing the connectivity of regional Australia and to consider future planning and funding of regional airports;
- Re-establishing of the Regional Airports Program (RAP) for $40 million over 3 years from 2024-2025 (the RCA submission had recommended $500 million over four years); and
- The Western Australia Strategic Airport Asset and Financial Management system was referenced in the White Paper as a basis of the now required assessment management frameworks for regional airports to access funding.
Australians who live in regional capitals and in rural and remote areas rely on a strong and sustainable regional aviation sector to bridge vast distances and to stay connected.
To increase the sector’s efficiency, RCA’s position is:
- Regional airports need to be sufficiently funded and the federal government should play its part in this arrangement;
- The burden of security costs should be reduced to create an equitable arrangement that worked for both regional and metropolitan customers; and
- The competitiveness of regional aviation needs to be examined and improved.
Our advocacy work to secure further Government funding for regional airports will continue.
Read our submission here.