Brisbane Airport defends reputation

Brisbane Airport defends reputation
By admin


Earlier reports of figures prepared by Flight Centre suggest that Brisbane Airport may be the most expensive in Australia to fly out of, however the airport clarifies that airfares set are beyond their jurisdiction.

Perth Now reported today that based on European early bird fares, Brisbane was allegedly the most expensive city to fly out of, however Brisbane Airport Corporation’s media and communications manager Leonie Vandeven has told Travel Today that “airports don’t set airfares, airlines do.”

The Flight Centre report, according to the paper, stated that an early bird fare to Europe costs $1635 from Brisbane, compared with $1596 from Perth, $1607 from Melbourne and $1618 from Sydney.

Perth Now cites figures based on those offered by six international carriers including Qantas, Etihad Airways, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airlines – although it is unclear how many fares were actually used in the findings.

Differences in the fares were claimed to be largely due to the charges imposed on airlines by different airports for using their runways, terminals and other infrastructure.

The paper reports that in 2013 international passenger service charge for using the existing runway jumped 34% to $5.49, with this figure expected to go up to around $9.96 by 2021 when the new runway opens.

Vandeven said the airport’s investment in new infrastructure was behind the higher fees.

“That will likely change as other airports bring on major investment,” Vandeven told the paper.

“Any airfare is impacted by the airline’s own strategic intent, demand, and any commercial deals they may have with travel wholesalers and retailers among many other considerations.”

Vandeven continued to defend the airport and the paper’s claims that it has long struggled as Australia’s worst airport, saying BNE suffered an unusually bad year in 2013 due to the closure of the second runway for building works and severe weather.

“BNE’s OTP was and is currently on par with, and at times better than, our southern capital city counterparts… and we’ve put a lot of hard work into achieving this,” she said.

This article has been edited and was adapted from an article on Perth Now

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