The State Government’s implementation of the actions arising from the regional airfares inquiry is continuing throughout 2019, with stakeholder consultation starting in the regions shortly.
Actions arising from the Final Report of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Regional Airfares will be further explored through the review of the State Aviation Strategy, which will be led by the Department of Transport in collaboration with other State Government agencies.
The main focus of the State Government for the review of the State Aviation Strategy is on the price of airfares on the unregulated air routes in Western Australia, with opportunities to examine a number of aviation matters as part of the review of the State Aviation Strategy.
Collaboration, engagement and innovation will be key to a successful review of the State Aviation Strategy, with stakeholder and community engagement taking place over the next 18 months to help inform the State Aviation Strategy, and ultimately help improve the availability of affordable airfares in regional WA.
Stakeholder meetings have already commenced, with consultation now moving to the regions. Through March/April, Department of Transport representatives will visit the towns of the nine unregulated air routes (Broome, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Kununurra, Newman, Paraburdoo, Port Hedland and Onslow) to meet with specific stakeholders and offer community drop-in information opportunities at each of the towns.
The Department of Transport will continue to engage with the regulated air route stakeholders via the twice-a-year Aviation Community Consultation Group sessions. Independent surveys will also be conducted on each Regular Public Transport air route to collect data and information to better understand the unique challenges on each air route.
The collection of feedback and data from stakeholders and the community will help inform the draft State Aviation Strategy, to be released for public comment in late 2019.
For updates on the review of the State Aviation Strategy and the upcoming community drop-in sessions, visit https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/airfares
As stated by Transport Minister Rita Saffioti:
“Over the next 18 months community members, airlines, local governments, airport owners and industry will have a number of opportunities to provide feedback on intrastate air routes and airfares.
“The Department of Transport will be conducting meetings, workshops, surveys and community drop-in sessions, which will build on the previous engagement and excellent work from the Parliamentary Inquiry into Regional Airfares.
“A revised draft State Aviation Strategy will be released for public comment in late 2019, which will incorporate key findings from data collected and stakeholder and community engagement.
“A new State Aviation Strategy is expected to be released in 2020, providing innovative solutions relevant to each individual air route and a policy framework to help improve the affordability of regional airfares in WA.”
