Airfare threat from Greens’ bid for Brisbane Airport curfew and flight cap

Brisbane Airport has warned that skyrocketing airfares will climb even higher if the Greens succeed in having a curfew and flight cap imposed on the gateway.

Brisbane Airport has warned that skyrocketing airfares will climb even higher if the Greens succeed in having a curfew and flight cap imposed on the gateway.

Inner city Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather recently flagged the return of the Brisbane Airport Curfew and Demand Management Bill, that lapsed when the election was called.

As well as a night-time curfew, the bill sought a cap on flights of 45 an hour, well below the airport’s capability of 110 an hour.

Mr Chandler-Mather said recent statistics showing Airservices Australia received more noise complaints about Brisbane Airport than all others in the country combined, highlighted the need for action.

“We have flights screeching over people’s houses at 2.30 in the morning at unacceptably regular intervals, exposing people to damaging noise pollution,” he said.

“We know that it has a huge impact on people’s health.”

Max Chandler-Mather will push for the bill that proposes flights be capped at 45 per day.

He said what the Greens were seeking was no more than what Sydney Airport already had, and “if it was good enough for Sydney, it should be good enough for Brisbane residents”.

As well as a curfew between 11pm and 6am, Sydney Airport restricts flight movements to 80 an hour.

Brisbane Airport Corporation head of public affairs Stephen Beckett said restricting flights would only serve to send already high airfares into the stratosphere.

Mr Beckett said the 45-flights an hour cap sought by the Greens would be disastrous for the Queensland economy and particularly regional residents.

“The bigger aircraft going to capital cities and overseas would have priority over smaller flights, which would mean fewer services to places like Townsville, Cairns, Mackay, Bundaberg, Rockhampton and Mt Isa,” Mr Beckett said.

“In that sort of constrained environment, the most profitable routes would remain and people who live in the regions would be competing with mining companies for seats and paying exorbitant prices as a result.”

His views were shared by Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka who told a business breakfast in September that restrictions on Brisbane Airport would not serve the wider community well.

“We don’t want air travel to be something that only the wealthy can afford,” she said.