Consumer watchdog puts Australia's airports on notice over car parking charges 11/04/08
Published: 11/04/08
Source: Melbourne Herald Sun; The Moodie Report
By Peter Dowling in Melbourne
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The ACCC is to examine car parking charges at airports
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AUSTRALIA. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is to monitor car parking rates at airports across the country after a request by the federal government.
Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese ordered the move on 6 April, arguing that parking charges at some Australian airports were high by international standards.
Airport parking revenues in 2007 totalled A$206 million (US$192 million), Albanese said, a +77% increase since 2002, compared with a +41% increase in passenger numbers.
In a statement to the press he referred to "genuine public concerns about airports using their monopoly position to exert significant market power and charge higher prices for the various periods of stay particularly short-term stays to drop off and pick up passengers."
He said: "We need to ensure that this monopoly position doesn't lead to the exploitation of the travelling public and their families."
The announcement effectively represents a resumption of an ACCC monitoring programme that lapsed in 2007.
The statement claimed that short-term parking fees at Sydney and Melbourne airports were higher than at New York JFK or London Heathrow airports.
Sydney Airport Corporation Limited responded that its parking fees had increased in line with inflation.
Australias airports are also making significant investment in additional car parking capacity to keep pace with surging passenger demand.
Sydney Airport is radically expanding its car parking facilities this year. Perth Airport has doubled the number of its parking bays in the past six months. At the start of April Melbourne Airport commenced an A$60 million (US$55.9 million) project to add 2,300 spaces to its multi-level car park area by May 2009.
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