The great Australian airport rip-off?

WE ALL put up with long lines, intrusive security and high prices. But not all airports are the same. These are Australia’s best - and worst.

AIRPORTS around the country are raking in the cash from us all, but giving us little to smile about in return.

That’s according to the Airport Monitoring Report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which analyses the performance of the nation’s major four airports; Brisbane, Melbourne (Tullamarine), Perth and Sydney.

“Despite some significant investment, the monitored airports have continued to generate substantial revenue and profitability increases, yet we are not seeing any substantial increases in the overall average quality of service indicators at these airports,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.

“In fact, service quality at all monitored airports has declined over the past decade, despite higher unit revenues at all airports.”

There’s only one airport we’re actually happy to use, with Brisbane being the sole airport to achieve a rating of “good” during the last financial year. The others were simply deemed “satisfactory”.

Get ready to part with your hard-earned cash ...

Sydney was the most improved, as it was previously rated “poor”.

Sydney Airport chief executive officer Kerrie Mather said a lot of work is underway to improve the passenger experience.

“In the nine months since the ACCC reporting period ended in June 2014, Sydney Airport has further invested to improve our efficiency and capacity in areas including ground transport, baggage systems and check-in counters,” Ms Mather said.

YOUR SAY: Which Australian airport is the most expensive? Tell us below

Australia’s airports made a lot of cash. Picture: ACCC

We sure hope change is on the way, with all the money they’re raking in. Sydney Airport, which welcomed 38.7 million passengers last financial year, made the most revenue of all four — a whopping $621 million (up 2.9 per cent). That’s more than double the amount of profit made by Melbourne Airport, the next highest earner.

For each passenger, Sydney Airport made $16.03, followed by Perth at $12.47, Brisbane at $10.94 and Melbourne at $9.90.

A main source of revenue was the dreaded car parking fee, with price rises at all the airports.

Sydney International Airport's car park make a lot of dollars.

Sydney Airport charged the highest rate for parking during the survey period, with a 24-hour stay at the domestic section costing $57, followed by Melbourne at $56, Brisbane at $54, and Perth seems like a bargain in comparison at $40.

Thankfully, there’s some relief — Sydney has since opened a new car park offering a daily rate of $45.

For a week-long stay, Brisbane was actually the priciest at $143, followed by Sydney at $135, Perth at $104 and Melbourne at $99.

Airport parking costs are sky-high. Picture: ACCC

And all this isn’t even counting the cost of items purchased once you’ve made it through the terminal, such as water, or a snack!

The key lesson? Don’t forget to shove some extra notes in that wallet for your next flight.