Airport car parking fees keep gateways in the black, says ACCC report

Car parking fees have seen major airports through the worst of the pandemic, the latest ACCC monitoring report shows.

Car parking revenue has helped Australia’s four big airports remain in profit even as passenger numbers took time to return to pre-Covid capacity.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s annual airport monitoring report showed Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth Airports saw their profit margins shrink in the 2022 financial year compared to 2019.

Significantly lower passenger numbers, particularly in the second half of 2021, contributed to all four airports making a loss on their aeronautic services.

But strong demand for carparking helped make up for those losses, and ensured the gateways remained profitable albeit at lower levels than pre-Covid.

The Australian Airports Association said the report highlighted that gateways were still in recovery from Covid, with profits well down on pre-pandemic levels.

A Sydney Airport spokeswoman said they did not expect to reach full recovery until 2024, “four years after Covid first hit”.

AAA head of policy and advocacy Merrick Peisley said the slow rate of recovery for airports was in contrast to record profits in “other parts of the aviation sector”.

“The average airport aeronautic revenue per passenger was $21.65 across the four major airports,” Mr Peisley said.

“This shows how small a proportion aeronautic fees are, in making up the cost of an airfare.”

He also called for the Australian government to “help attract new international airlines to support the vital travel and tourism sector” to increase passenger numbers to pre-pandemic levels.

Since the pandemic several airports had seen a sharp increase in travellers making use of carparks, which was helping to drive revenue.

Melbourne Airport has seen strong demand for carparking since borders reopened, helping to drive revenue. Picture: Mark Stewart

Melbourne Airport’s head of ground transport Jai McDermott said prices had been restructured during the pandemic, with parking fees starting from as low as a drive-up rate of $12 a day.

“The current pricing structure gives travellers options that reflect value and convenience,” Mr McDermott said.

“The combination of lower prices and changing travel habits has resulted in an increased mode share for Melbourne Airport’s parking products.”

Brisbane Airport also noted a “shift in the behaviour of travellers” that meant carparks were frequently at capacity.

Chief financial officer Warren Briggs said a higher proportion of travellers were choosing to drive their cars to the airport over taxi and rideshare options.

“We believe this is a reflection of passengers wanting certainty over their journey, as well as a hangover from the Covid-19 period,” Mr Briggs said.

“Brisbane Airport provides a range of parking options for our passengers to cater for a cross-section of budgets and is investing $592.9m over five years to boost the supply of car parks at both terminals.”

The report showed Brisbane Airport carparking rates climbed the most in the year in question, with drivers paying $20 to park for under an hour, or $25 for up to two hours.

Sydney Airport charged the most for up to 24 hours of parking, at $65.90 followed by Brisbane on $59.

Savings could be made by pre-booking parking online with longer-term travellers much more likely to do so.

The ACCC noted that it did not collect data on quality of service at the four major airports in the 2022 financial year, but would do so for the next monitoring report.

The watchdog had also recommended to government that airports be forced to hand over more detailed information “to increase transparency for airport users and governments”.

“Airports perform a vital role in supporting economic activity in Australia, and the changes to the monitoring regime that we’ve recommended should benefit airport users and, ultimately, the Australian public,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.

Airlines for Australia and New Zealand chairman Graeme Samuel said more scrutiny was needed for airports.

“Indeed, this report acts as a reminder that a regime involving monitoring alone does little more than shine a light on the challenges of dealing with monopoly airports.”

Originally published as Airport car parking fees keep gateways in the black, says ACCC report