Canberra has rejected a proposal to give cabotage rights to foreign carriers, but has approved recommendations designed to ease the entry of foreign airlines into Australia.
Australia's federal cabinet gave its verdict on proposals to liberalise Australian aviation policy put forward by a government-appointed productivity commission. Qantas and Ansett condemned the commission's cabotage suggestion, saying that it would allow foreign carriers to "cherry pick" Australian routes.
Explaining the decision, John Anderson, minister for transport and regional services, said: "None of our major trading partners, other than New Zealand, allows Qantas or Ansett to operate domestically within their countries."
The biggest beneficiaries of the new policies could be secondary gateways such as Adelaide, Cairns and Darwin. In a bid to stimulate international flights, the government agreed to offer foreign carriers unlimited access to such cities, including stop-over and codeshare rights. These would be extra-bilateral rights, not dependent on reciprocity. Adding passenger flights at Australia's main gateways of Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth would remain subject to bilateral negotiations, however.
Other parts of Australia's new policies include allowing unlimited foreign cargo carrier access to any international airport in Australia, raising foreign ownership limits on international airlines to 49% (although Qantas remains exempt), removing fare restrictions in existing bilaterals and regulations, simplifying criteria for the International Air Services Commission to use in allocating capacity, increasing consultations, and publicising more details about bilaterals.
Source: Airline Business
