Cairns charges!!

Is my understanding of Cairns charges correct?

I read this as I can land and park anytime for $17/t but if the landing is between 1000 and 1400 local, then they will charge $350.

Is the solution just to avoid arriving between these times?

What about departing during these times?

Seems a bit steep!

My solution is I no longer use Cairns airport. I accept it is a defeatist attitude, but they win. The privatisation of airports has resulted in a widely predicted outcome where the new “owners” are anti smaller or private aircraft unfortunately. Thankfully Townsville is owned by the military.

How would you know if it is correct. The way it is worded is nonsensencicle. Is that a time slot or does it relate to something else. RAAus aircraft are not GA but they are recreational and not commercial.

Also if it is relating to time , is it UTC or local time ? . If it’s UTC then it’s no worries , because it would be dark anyway , and hence no flying for Rec aircraft .

It’s appears that it’s simply a tool used by the big airports to make using their runways unattractive at peak times. YBBN charges an additional $200 during peak times (if you’re qualified to use their runway).

It’s a whole new facet to flightplanning!

Poorly worded and non specific. If you refused to pay they'd have little chance of extracting the money through any legal process.

Just a thought, why not ask the brains at Raa Aus to check it out. You pay them a fortune so let them practice some membership service for a change.

Only planes and pilots certified Class Charlie need apply anyway. At any price.

Most non-commercial GA/Recreational ops have moved inland to Mareeba and Atherton, up on the tablelands, nowadays.

Atherton is where our Jaba-who keeps his (four-place) Jabiru and, of course, our Farri has his home strip at Deeral, 25nm to the south-east, to fly his beautiful Drifter from - at any and every opportunity! Go Frank!

(How long is it since you flew into YBCS?)

I used to fly out of Cairns YBCS but as Garfly says I ( and most of the many private pilots and a number of small commercial operators ) have moved out of Cairns and now fly out of the several surrounding area airports.

WRT the flight charges.

1. They apply to all aircraft that are “not commercial”. I spoke to the admin of the airport when they brought these rules in and was advised that any aircraft registered to an individual not a company will be considered as not commercial and sent a bill. It will be up to the owner to negotiate with them if the owner considers it a commercial aircraft.

2. The expensive slots for times of landing also applies to times of departure. It will be applied to actual time of landing ( or departure) not planned time. Delays in landing due to ATC, traffic etc which delay a landing into the high cost time slot will still be charged at the higher rate. If you want to dispute it you have to take it up with the administration afterwards. Good luck with that.

3. The fee as written is apparently excluding GST which makes it $385 not $350. ( I’ve not ever got one so can’t say they do but that’s they told me. )

4. The airport apparently has the right to impound any aircraft for unpaid fees ( a specific rule given to them by the Qld Labor Anna Bligh government when they were sold the airport) and there is at least one aircraft currently impounded there now ( a Shorts Belfast). They stated they will impound private aircraft if you don’t pay the fees and you fly away but then return or if you land at another airport they own. ( I think they own Mackay as well)

5. I don’t know how they would approach billing a RAAus aircraft. They will want to bill you. That’s a certainty. They will no doubt only be hindered by getting your details. Since it’s a security controlled airport with multiple security cars cruising around all the time and a federal police presence 24/7 they might meet an RAAus aircraft at the parking area and get details from you on the spot.

Also the fees for just parking there are exorbitant as well.

All in all it’s not worth going there any more.

If I wanted to fly to Cairns for a holiday, I would want to land at Cairns. Atherton is an hour and a half drive from Cairns, and Mareeba an hour. The amount of money I would spend during my stay in Cairns would be the same as the next Aussie visitor, so there's some money and part of a job that these airport leeches have cost the city.

If I wanted to fly to Cairns for a holiday, I would want to land at Cairns. Atherton is an hour and a half drive from Cairns, and Mareeba an hour. The amount of money I would spend during my stay in Cairns would be the same as the next Aussie visitor, so there's some money and part of a job that these airport leeches have cost the city.

The short sightedness of these bureaucrats is bewildering. ....

The Cairns airport apron space is probably too expensive to reasonably allow parking for U/L's at a cost they could bear.. Same as parking (Provision ) in the centre of cities. A small plane takes up the space of about 2 -3 cars the only option for U/Ls is out of suburbia onto some bare flat paddock and have a owner perimeter house ,hangar and access scheme. and perhaps cheap basic accommodation for students and fliers. If you can't get it you have to make it. Nev

some bare flat paddock

Hmmmm ... this is Cairns we're talking about, isn't it? From my infrequent visits, that's the place where areas of bare flat paddock are at a premium?

The closest private airfield I can currently find for sale is a grass strip at Port Douglas - and they're very coy about pricing for the sale. I just love this "EOI" terminology, in real estate double-speak.

[/url]https://www.raineandhorne.com.au/mossman/properties/6312-captain-cook-highway-port-douglas-4877-queensland

Read, "We hope to find some idiot with more money than brains, to pay X squillion for this place, because people who own aircraft, are loaded".

It's still 67 kms by road to Cairns. So, Cairns airport really does have a monopoly position, and obviously revel in it.

Then if you check further, you have to continue to regularly get permission from the council to keep using the place as an airstrip.

I found where council permission for this airstrip was extended to 2015, but I didn't find any further extension to the permission. That's not to say it hasn't been extended, the permission may not have made it to online availability.

But start allowing a few mates to utilise the strip (read, group fly-ins), and you would probably find the airstrip permission would be revoked. Then there's the constant problem of urban encroachment.

I used to fly out of Cairns YBCS but as Garfly says I ( and most of the many private pilots and a number of small commercial operators ) have moved out of Cairns and now fly out of the several surrounding area airports.

 

WRT the flight charges.

 

1. They apply to all aircraft that are “not commercial”. I spoke to the admin of the airport when they brought these rules in and was advised that any aircraft registered to an individual not a company will be considered as not commercial and sent a bill. It will be up to the owner to negotiate with them if the owner considers it a commercial aircraft.

 

2. The expensive slots for times of landing also applies to times of departure. It will be applied to actual time of landing ( or departure) not planned time. Delays in landing due to ATC, traffic etc which delay a landing into the high cost time slot will still be charged at the higher rate. If you want to dispute it you have to take it up with the administration afterwards. Good luck with that.

 

3. The fee as written is apparently excluding GST which makes it $385 not $350. ( I’ve not ever got one so can’t say they do but that’s they told me. )

 

4. The airport apparently has the right to impound any aircraft for unpaid fees ( a specific rule given to them by the Qld Labor Anna Bligh government when they were sold the airport) and there is at least one aircraft currently impounded there now ( a Shorts Belfast). They stated they will impound private aircraft if you don’t pay the fees and you fly away but then return or if you land at another airport they own. ( I think they own Mackay as well)

 

5. I don’t know how they would approach billing a RAAus aircraft. They will want to bill you. That’s a certainty. They will no doubt only be hindered by getting your details. Since it’s a security controlled airport with multiple security cars cruising around all the time and a federal police presence 24/7 they might meet an RAAus aircraft at the parking area and get details from you on the spot.

 

Also the fees for just parking there are exorbitant as well.

 

All in all it’s not worth going there any more.

Thanks for this.

I thought Mackay was expensive so perhaps it’s a sign of things to come.

Once the town expands to the airport it's only a matter of time. before you are priced out. There's not a lot of land between the waterline and the big hills to the west so it's ALL at a premium price. by now... It's a tricky place to get into in crook weather also. Nev

How does Pat English get on? It would be costing him a kings ransom to land at Cairns on a regular basis. Is he doing it every day, as he wanted? - or has the Mareeba Council knocked him back again?

I guess he could just be passing the Cairns airport charges onto his clients?