Economic regulation of major Australian airports

Australia's airports are a major component of the national transport infrastructure and make a significant contribution to Australia's overall economic prosperity. Continued investment in aeronautical infrastructure is a key objective of the Australian Government. At the same time, airports have significant market power and this is an important factor in determining the most appropriate economic regulatory regime.

There is also a need to ensure that the aviation industry generally, and Australian airports specifically, continue to provide access to national and international services and infrastructure that meet the broad range of passenger needs and expectations.

Airports are, within their relative geographic markets, natural monopolies, and it is important to prevent abuse of market power through excessive pricing. Further information on the economic regulation of major Australian airports is at Economic Regulation.

Airport economic regulation is described in Chapter 10 of the National Aviation Policy White Paper.

The Productivity Commission has conducted an inquiry into the economic regulation of Australian airports. Information about the inquiry, and the final report released on 30 March 2012, is available on the Commission’s website PC website. The Government Response to the recommendations of the final report was also released on 30 March 2012.