Recreational Flying Company to fight Gympie Regional Council over landing fees

Gympie’s only flying school and air charter company says it’s prepared to sue the council after an “unconscionable” 400 per cent fee hike they claim has “killed the business”. Find out more:

The Gympie region’s only flying school and air charter company says it will fight the Gympie council all the way to court after an “unconscionable” fee hike “killed” their business in six months.

The Recreational Flying Company (RFC), which operates out of the Gympie aerodrome at Kybong, will cease full time operations on March 1, following what they claim is an “unsustainable” 400 per cent increase to operating costs.

Paul McKeown Chief Pilot and Head of Operations The Recreational Flying Company said the Gympie Regional Council’s approval of an increase to landing costs has “killed” the company.

The company has been in operation since 2007.

RFC Chief Pilot and Head of Operations Paul McKeown said the Gympie Regional Council voted to approve an increase in landing costs for the company in August 2021, which had resulted in more than $11,000 in costs.

This, coupled with the business fallout from Covid, proved too expensive for the business, which has been forced to shut down.

“We have always paid a lease to the council to use the airfield, but these new charges have increased our operating costs,” he said.

He claimed the company was blind sighted by the hike after it was approved by the council “without consultation”.

“They’ve killed us,” he said.

“Gympie has now lost its only general aviation flying school and air charter company and a significant economic contributor to the local community.

“Gympie kids will have to leave town now if they wish to complete commercial flying training and our staff will lose their jobs.”

The Gympie Aerodrome in Kybong in 2017, where the Recreational Flying Company operates from.

The company shared the news to their website on Wednesday (February 9), and stated the business fallout from Covid also served as a catalyst to close.

Despite the shock decision, they said it was unclear whether the company would cease operations altogether or continue to offer specialised training services.

The Gympie Times has reached out to Gympie Regional Council for comment but at the time of publication, a response had not been received.