Sunshine Coast Airport tensions rise as council divert tenant issues

Sunshine Coast Airport operators seeking to salvage the old runway have been diverted by the council to the strip’s new bosses.

Aviation operators have had their gripes diverted by Sunshine Coast Council as they seek clarity on a range of issues including the future of helicopter training and whether or not the former runway is salvageable.

General aviation tenants of the airport met with the council’s chief executive Emma Thomas recently to discuss a range of concerns held by the business owners and operators.

Sunshine Coast Airport Tenants Association member and Becker Helicopters boss, Mike Becker, said the message he’d taken away from the meeting had been that council was not wanting to step on the toes of Palisade Investment Partners.

Palisade Investment Partners signed off on a 99-year lease of the airport from the council in late-2017.

Several issues had been raised with the council prior to the recent meeting and Mr Becker said the council had indicated it no longer had responsibility with lease arrangements between private operators at the airport now a matter for Sunshine Coast Airport.

An email from Sunshine Coast Council chief executive Ms Thomas to airport tenants in early-August outlined the council’s position on several issues.

She made clear under terms of the commercial lease that Palisade-owned Sunshine Coast Airport had responsibility for the management and operation of the airport.

Ms Thomas wrote that the council’s role was to monitor the performance of the company and its compliance with the contract but responsibility for management of subleases was no longer that of the council.

Tenants had sought advice from Ms Thomas on how former runway 18/36 could be saved as a secondary operating runway.

She advised the old runway “closed as a fully operational runway and cannot be re-established” due to issues with proximity to taxi lanes, height difference in the new runway and old runway and dangers of the alignment.

Questions were asked about what tenants considered the “elimination of helicopter infrastructure” under the new master plan.

Ms Thomas said the master plan did not propose the removal of helicopter training facilities but instead provided for “continued growth of general aviation (both fixed-wing and helicopter operations)” in the proposed aerospace precinct which she said would increase general aviation space from 6ha to 29ha.

The wait for commissioning of two new helipads north of the runway finished in late-2020 was also raised with the council’s new boss.

Ms Thomas said she’d been told a final environmental report was in progress on the entire airport site but there may be a solution that “enables use of the helicopter training aids prior to completion” of the environmental reporting and encouraged businesses to discuss that with the airport operators.

Ms Thomas said the council was unaware of any evidence which suggested the viability of any airport business had been detrimentally impacted by the master plan.

Mr Becker signed a deal in 2018 to begin transitioning his company’s operations to South Australia after being told his lease would not be renewed at Sunshine Coast Airport when it expired in 2030.

He said airside tenants at the airport had “no voice” and had been stuck in bureaucratic paperwork for years.

Becker Helicopters Pilot Academy executive director Mike Becker.

Mr Becker said tenants were being bounced between the council and the airport.

“No one wants to talk to us,” he said.

“For us it’s impossible, for others it’s getting harder (to continue operating).”

He said it was “obvious” general aviation was not wanted at the airport anymore.

“They’re just wearing us out over time,” Mr Becker said.

Ms Thomas advised tenants she had also briefed airport chief executive Andrew Brodie on the concerns they had raised.

Tenants had also asked about transparency on the future direction of the airport “with regards to the building of service stations, supermarkets and freight centres” including where they would be located and how it would impact general aviation operations.

A council spokeswoman said it had received no indication from Palisade that it would need to alter its master plan to drive more non-aviation development, nor had it received any indication there would be issues with its $305m loan repayment due to the council in 2022.

Sunshine Coast Airport head of corporate relations Ayllie White said the airport was working with the council and Airservices Australia to commission the helicopter training aids and would keep operators “informed of the provision of helicopter training infrastructure”.

“Meantime, two helicopter training aids are currently available to operators, which were put in place as an interim arrangement during the construction of the runway project,” Ms White said.

“Our long-term development plans are aligned with our master plan that was endorsed by council in October, 2019.”