Submission to the Productivity Commission | Inquiry into the Economic Regulation of Airports | 3 September 2018

Airports are gateways into a new country or a new city and thus shape the first impression of the destination, especially for an international traveller. Airports are enablers of international tourism facilitating passenger movement at record rates. International visitation to Australia is projected to grow by 64% in 2026-27 compared to 6.9% in 2017-181. Likewise, domestic tourism is growing at an unprecedented rate. Domestic travel is projected to grow by 24% (overnight visitors) and 29% (day visitors) over the period 2017-18 to 2026-272. Airports, airline capacity and service delivery (the customer facing aspects) thus need to keep up to cater to increasing demand from travellers.