Revealed: Anthony Albanese’s big Western Sydney Airport announcement with no inked deal

Anthony Albanese made a major announcement about Western Sydney airport last month. The catch? It’s not a done deal.

Singapore Airlines has the federal government over a barrel after Anthony Albanese and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King announced the company as the first international carrier to service Western Sydney’s new airport before a deal had been signed.

No commercial contract on the frequency of airlines and the fees involved had been finalised before the major announcement was made by the Prime Minister on August 27 — a move which critics say handed over the negotiating power to the foreign airline.

Last month, Mr Albanese and Ms King announced that Singapore Airlines was “confirming its intention” to operate at the airport.

“This new commercial arrangement allows Singapore Airlines to begin developing its future operations at WSI,” the government said in a statement at the time.

While Singapore Airlines does not have to sign a bilateral arrangement with the government because it already has approval for unlimited growth, a commercial contract stating the frequency of airlines and relevant fees was yet to be signed when the announcement was made.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, at Western Sydney airport. Picture: Gaye Gerard

While the government’s initial announcement did not mention the status of commercial agreements, in their own statement WSI said commercial discussions would “continue”.

“Commercial discussions about the airline’s future operations at Australia’s first greenfield airport in more than fifty years continue,” WSI said.

Airlines typically pay various fees to use an airport, including for landing, aircraft parking, gates, infrastructure and terminal use.

Multiple airline industry sources said new airlines were usually not announced until tickets were about to go on sale and a commercial agreement was locked in.

The move — which came two days after a damaging aviation white paper was released — has left members of the industry scratching their heads.

Commercial agreements between the Airline and WSI have not been finalised. Photo: Supplied

“(Typically) there is a commercial agreement in the bank along with schedule information,” one source said.

“If you say an airline will fly there and there is no agreement, who is going to lose more face if that doesn’t work out?

“In this case you’d say it’s probably the airport.”

The announcement comes as Australia grapples with a lack of competition in the airline industry after the collapse of smaller domestic carriers Rex and Bonza.

Coalition infrastructure spokesman Bridget McKenzie accused Labor of jumping the gun on the announcement to “cover up” inaction on airline competitiveness.

“Australians know more competition in the aviation industry is needed and requires more than a press release,” she said.

Bridget McKenzie says the PM jumped the gun with his announcement. Picture: Martin Ollman

“Labor’s inaction on competition has meant travellers are paying more than they should to fly.

“Trying to cover up for this inaction with a press release without an inked agreement takes the public for mugs.

“There is no timetable, no time frames, and no date for take-off … the Prime Minister issues a press release of a promise to fly without any of the necessary ground work being done.”

Flight Centre boss Graham Turner said the “devil will be in the details” of the deal with Singapore Airlines.

“This is a long way away, it’s still more than two years away,” he said.

“They are trying to put a positive light on it, but there is almost certainly no deals done in the sense of contracts or commitments.”

Mr Turner said it was “reasonable” for Mr Albanese and Ms King to announce Singapore’s intention, but the “airports will have to negotiate with the airlines and the government on what the charges will be”.

“It’s a positive thing that Singapore says they will support the airport, but the devil will be in the details.”

A spokesman for the government said they had made it clear commercial discussions were continuing.

“The announcement made clear that the details of Singapore Airlines operations at the airport are still being discussed with further details to come,” they said.

A spokesman for Western Sydney Airport said “operational and planning” discussions with the airline are ongoing.

“This type of process is a typical commercial practice, particularly in the context of being a greenfield airport (which our nation hasn’t seen in more than four decades).”

Originally published as Revealed: Anthony Albanese’s big Western Sydney Airport announcement with no inked deal