At last, the media notice airports under threat.

[Old Koreelah]

Will Australia's small airports soon be a thing of the past?

[SSCBD]

Yep sad fact;.

 

 

[turboplanner]

If you wanted a successful business model for a rural airport, why would you rely on a Council to come up with one?

 

 

[Garfly]

Thanks Old K ... and it's worth following the link on that page (Law Report) through to radio program which goes into quite a bit more (depressing) detail:

 

Tiny Airports in trouble

 

Will Australia's small airports soon be a thing of the past?

 

Increased regulations and rising costs have seen more and more of Australia's tiny airports shut down. The trend seems likely to continue, so what could we stand to lose?

 

It seems that 'the media' has taken an interest in this case because the program maker, Lyn Gallacher, has taken up flying herself. ;-)

 

 

[turboplanner]

It seems that 'the media' has taken an interest in this case because the program maker, Lyn Gallacher, has taken up flying herself. ;-)

Good observation, the success of any sport in a local area is always boosted when one of the local journalists is part of it.

This leads to the marketing principle that people don't notice products or sporting events even though they are right under their noses.

 

That leads to the thought that if ou have a business, and an airport is definitely a business, more people might get interested if only you could tell them about it like that journalist does.

 

That leads to the thought that maybe I could tell my local journalist about what we are doing at our airport?

 

And that leads to the thought that maybe like the great Arthur Schutt used to do (the Arthur Schutt who dominated the market in Australia with his Cessna sales) I should tell potential customers about what we are doing at our airport.

 

It works; my optometrist send me reminders when he thinks I'm due for an update. My eyes don't change much, so I usually ignore them, but when the time comes, he is at the top of my awareness of trustworthy opticians, so I gravitate to him. He emails meregularly with great ideas for me to spend money; one was a pair of optical sunglasses, which I've used about four times.... but he got me in. Recently, he sent me a reminder that my prescription was overdue; then another reminder; then a differently worded reminder.

 

He must have figured reminders weren't getting anywhere with his customers, so I next received an invitation to visit his premises for a 30th year Celebration Night, where he would have frame stylists present; followed by another reminder that they hadn't heard from me; followed by another reminder and news that he woulod be offering 25% off prescriptions of thise attending; followed by another reminders that I hadn't booked.....................and I've booked to go to a 30th year celebration with an Optometrist for the first time in my life.

 

The point about this is; if something as uninteresting as spending an evening with an optometrist, can be achieved with persistent contact; how easy would it be to motivate people about the excitement of flying; that moment when you've just lifted off and the aircraft is lifting away from the ground.

 

Now, I've oversimplified this to make the example:

 

The Optometrist either had a gift, or hired a very professional marketer, because none of the messages were intrusive, or annoying, and their purpose was always very clear with no BS.

 

Has your airport ever contacted you?

 

 

[Yenn]

The real reason that airports are falling by the wayside is that the people running them are accountants and not pilots.

 

Our local airport Gladstone was a great spot for GA years ago, Then it was handed to the local councils and was still a great spot. There was an aerodrome board running the strip and our shire chairman was aviation minded, the local government engineers knew what needed doing and it all ran smoothly. Then along came amalgamation and accountants. A vast amount of money was poured into the strip to get FIFO flights for the gas industry. GA was pushed out and the whole place became a parking lot and airline only flying. It now costs to fly into Gladstone, which means I no longer refuel there, in fact it is even difficult to pick up oil from the agent there as they are not interested in service.

 

On the other hand there are small aitports which are providing good service and are a pleasure to fly into. Bundaberg, Gayndah, Biggenden and Emu Park spring to mind.

 

 

[turboplanner]

What are the names of the aerodrome board members?

 

 

[Nobody]

I suspect that the RAAus and its closed aircraft register contribute a little to the problem. Not being able to get aircraft details means that they cannot effectively charge landing fees. This leaves the airports 2 options. Charge GA only or charge noone. The first option means that some users are subsidising others which isnt that fair while the second option means that there is no income for the airport....

 

I know that many small airports are unhappy about this situation and I suspect some would be against a RAAus weight increase as they will lose revenue.

 

 

[turboplanner]

RAA members can eliminate that situation and support airfields on a fair user-pays system by agreeing to provide invoicing details to airfield operators.

 

Transponders are used for BMX racing these days, so the technology is available for automatic recording.

 

I can understand from some of the posts we see here that a number of people might arc up at the possibility of being traced, but maybe payment could be by Paypal.

 

 

[facthunter]

U/L's don't require deep concrete runways and taxiways. The major expenses are there for the heavies, even if they only come there rarely.. The U/L's just get in the way. The culprit is the Federal government selling off the Aerodromes and losing control of what they do. Councils have no control either. Nev

 

 

[turboplanner]

U/L's don't require deep concrete runways and taxiways. The major expenses are there for the heavies, even if they only come there rarely.. The U/L's just get in the way. The culprit is the Federal government selling off the Aerodromes and losing control of what they do. Councils have no control either. Nev

There's a small list of those around the Country, and that needs some action from the present government to reverse the situation where operators are using 99 year leases to industrialise and commercialise airports, substantially affecting aviation by bypassing normal prohibitions, because the land is still zoned CA.

 

 

[turboplanner]

U/L's don't require deep concrete runways and taxiways. The major expenses are there for the heavies, even if they only come there rarely.. The U/L's just get in the way. The culprit is the Federal government selling off the Aerodromes and losing control of what they do. Councils have no control either. Nev

They need the grass cut and the fences maintaioned, and the wind socks replaced and the parking area maintained, and the buildings maintained, and security - even for a small country airfield.

Spread evenly over the number of people using the airfield, that's not a big cost at all; the key is how do you make sure it is spread evenly, and catch the worms that always use other people's money.

 

 

[KRviator]

Charging fairly would be a good start. Check out Warnervale's published landing fees (page 264)...$15 per landing, with no daily rate, then there is the annual licence fee ($605) the annual 'parking fee' $1650, and then there is a $110 fee just for the privilege of (each) refuelling on council land.

 

Any wonder why people try to avoid these kinds of extortionate charges? When was the last time Council hit you up to launch your tinny at the local boat ramp?

 

 

[Nobody]

When was the last time Council hit you up to launch your tinny at the local boat ramp?

When we visited SA we were surprised to find many boat ramps did charge a fee.

Eg,

 

District Council of Robe, South Australia : Boat Ramp

 

Warnervale is over the top. If they don't become a bit more sensible then the planned upgrades will be doomed to failure.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Charging fairly would be a good start. Check out Warnervale's published landing fees (page 264)...$15 per landing, with no daily rate, then there is the annual licence fee ($605) the annual 'parking fee' $1650, and then there is a $110 fee just for the privilege of (each) refuelling on council land.Any wonder why people try to avoid these kinds of extortionate charges? When was the last time Council hit you up to launch your tinny at the local boat ramp?

The last time I put the boat in and every time before that; come to think of it, the total must be in the thousands of dollars.

 

 

[johnm]

the annual rate bill is not enough ? ............. they're gunna slug you at the boat ramp !

 

bureaucracies have an insatiable need for money - they are a prime inflationary cause in my book

 

if you apply the same logic re fees / tolls ......................... they'll have to put a toll on:

 

- entry into the library

 

- entry to public toilets

 

- fence all parks and charge entry through gates

 

- fence all rivers and charge entry through gates

 

- fence all beaches and charge entry through gates

 

- fence all airstrips and charge entry through gates

 

 

 

[facthunter]

Charging to take your rubbish to the tip is stupid. Certain people then dump it at the end of a little used road, and the cost of rectifying that is way above the dumping fee lost. Nev

 

 

[turboplanner]

the annual rate bill is not enough ? ............. they're gunna slug you at the boat ramp ! bureaucracies have an insatiable need for money - they are a prime inflationary cause in my book

 

if you apply the same logic re fees / tolls ......................... they'll have to put a toll on:

 

- entry into the library

 

- entry to public toilets

 

- fence all parks and charge entry through gates

 

- fence all rivers and charge entry through gates

 

- fence all beaches and charge entry through gates

 

- fence all airstrips and charge entry through gates

 

[ATTACH=full]52086[/ATTACH]

Believe it or not, but in Victoria this used to occur at some locations like bush walking track sites........until someone smart compared the income from the small charge with the cost of manningthe site 7 days a week way out in the bush.

Beaches, parks and rivers are pretty much no entry fee these days, but where there is a budget to maintain facilities, some Councillors like to recover as much of the cost as they can.

 

 

[KRviator]

The last time I put the boat in and every time before that; come to think of it, the total must be in the thousands of dollars.

Well there you go! I've learnt something today - every boat ramp I've ever come across myself has been free for anyone to use.

[DenisPC9]

Will Australia's small airports soon be a thing of the past?

From that ABC article: "In Europe, tiny airports are being used to develop new environmentally and economically efficient aviation technologies."

 

It would appear that the definition of "economically efficient" has undergone what has occurred to Australia's populace, almost terminal bloat.