There are plans to remove the monopoly enjoyed by Regional Express (Rex) on its Merimbula to Sydney route.
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Member for Bega and Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance said he was looking at deregulating regional routes.
Asked about the Merimbula route he said: “We’re looking at that at the moment. It doesn’t achieve much.”
The 35,000 passenger a year route is currently protected as a Rex-only route, while the route to Melbourne is open to competition.
Mr Constance said he was “looking to deregulate regional routes” because it was an impediment.
Mr Constance’s comments came as almost $1million in NSW government regional tourism funding was secured for Merimbula airport to be used for infrastructure upgrades. It is understood the money will be used for water and sewer works.
“There’s an exciting future here and aviation needs to be incredibly strong. The vision for regional airports is based on larger planes. We will need runways and quality of airport infrastructure to facilitate growth. This is about future proofing the airport,” Mr Constance said.
He called it a much-needed investment that would allow the airport to operate at a higher capacity to accommodate future growth.
“Merimbula regional airport plays a crucial role in the long-term viability and growth of the local Bega economy, enabling local tourism and supporting emergency services,” Mr Constance said.
The funding was welcomed by the Bega Valley Shire Mayor Michael Britten who called it “fantastic”.
There is also the prospect of more money to come - council has a bid for further funding to support the project including runway and terminal upgrades, with additional information provided for submissions to be reviewed in the new year.
Council had approached both federal and state governments for airport funding. It was not successful in getting federal funding but hopes to get the $6.7million staged funding from the state government of which the $1million is the first part.
The airport and its management will be under discussion at Wednesday’s council meeting.
A Regional Express Airlines spokeswoman referred the News Weekly to previous comments the company had made about the routes on which it has sole rights.
In a submission to the NSW inquiry into regional aviation services, last year, the company said: “Rex believes that the NSW regulatory regime is an obstacle for air operators working in partnership with the local councils and communities and the associated red tape is a disincentive for airlines particularly in the context of the license regime having no meaningful outcomes.”
In 2012 after being awarded the Merimbula to Sydney route for another five years, Rex’s general manager of network strategy and sales, Warrick Lodge said: “Whilst Rex is the biggest beneficiary of the NSW licensed route regime, we have called on the NSW government, just as we have done five years ago when the licences were last awarded, to discontinue this route licence regime as we believe that such a scheme distorts free competition without achieving any practical outcome.”
