Article: Why Governments Monopolise Regional Routes

[AFF Editor]

Why Governments Monopolise Regional Routes is an article written by the AFF editorial team:

Why Governments Guarantee Monopolies on Some Regional Routes

Airline monopolies are generally undesirable because carriers can exploit the lack of competition to raise prices and reduce service.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[JIMMYTHEJET]

If it was your business wouldn’t you want that ?

 

[HoughP]

Hi Matt,

long time reader, can you look into Kangaroo Island with Qantas, every time I need to go there Qantas is charging ridicules money for this flight, which only takes 20 minutes to fly.

Regards
Paul H

 

[Lynda2475]

Was reading about QF relinquishing Lord Howe earlier today, there will only continue to be a service because Skytrans are buying the 3 * 27 year old dash-8 aircraft from Qantas.

It was noted extending the run way would be too costly but feels very short sighted as eventually those old planes are going to become too costly to maintain (already the case for Qantas) so there wont be any planes that have the range to get there that can also handle the ridiculously short runway.

Seems like the government will then end up having to pay even more in the future to extend the runway anyway. Maybe kicking the problem down the road 10 years at best.

 

[AFF Editor]

Hi Matt,

long time reader, can you look into Kangaroo Island with Qantas, every time I need to go there Qantas is charging ridicules money for this flight, which only takes 20 minutes to fly.

Regards
Paul H

This isn't a regulated route, so any airline is free to enter or exit the market.

It was a Rex monopoly route until a few years ago, until Qantas entered the market. Rex then threatened to pull out, reinstated flights, and finally exited for good in 2022.

Unfortunately, this means Qantas can pretty much charge what it thinks the market will bear on this route. Given it's such a short flight, and airfares are high, it's a good use of Qantas points if you're able to book Classic Reward seats.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Was reading about QF relinquishing Lord Howe earlier today, there will only continue to be a service because Skytrans are buying the 3 * 27 year old dash-8 aircraft from Qantas.

It was noted extending the run way would be too costly but feels very short sighted as eventually those old planes are going to become too costly to maintain (already the case for Qantas) so there wont be any planes that have the range to get there that can also handle the ridiculously short runway.

Seems like the government will then end up having to pay even more in the future to extend the runway anyway. Maybe kicking the problem down the road 10 years at best.

I believe the ATR42-600S could do the job

 

[JIMMYTHEJET]

This isn't a regulated route, so any airline is free to enter or exit the market.

It was a Rex monopoly route until a few years ago, until Qantas entered the market. Rex then threatened to pull out, reinstated flights, and finally exited for good in 2022.

Unfortunately, this means Qantas can pretty much charge what it thinks the market will bear on this route. Given it's such a short flight, and airfares are high, it's a good use of Qantas points if you're able to book Classic Reward seats.

And from what I have online the new airline taking over will leave from t3 so we have a lounge access possibly which is a bonus

 

[atomik]

I believe the VA flights connecting Perth to Christmas Island and Cocos Keeling Island are also regulated, as I saw an update that they were applying to renew their routes. Meanwhile, there is a 'Qantas Close' street on West Island, CKI ... maybe one day they'll regain the routes and fly business. We can dream..

 

[equus]

I believe the ATR42-600S could do the job

I am not sure it has the required range. Apart from the short runway, I believe the issue is the fact that there is nothing else close. To allow for possible diversion, the plane basically needs the range to be able to fly all the way back to SYD if it can't land from some reason.

 

[straya7]

I am not sure it has the required range. Apart from the short runway, I believe the issue is the fact that there is nothing else close. To allow for possible diversion, the plane basically needs the range to be able to fly all the way back to SYD if it can't land from some reason.

Could the ATR work with a limited amount of passengers?

 

[equus]

Could the ATR work with a limited amount of passengers?

I just googled its specifications. It may be able to do something. Its range with max pax is stated as 1,259km, and the distance from Sydney to Lord Howe Island is about 781km, meaning it is quite a bit short for a round trip.

The inbound would suffer other issues as well. That max range assumes as much runway as you need for efficiency. For STOL operations, it quotes an 800m take off distance at 70% load factor, or quite conveniently 890m (against an actual Lord Howe runway length of 888m) - with max pax giving only 200NM range (well down from the quoted range) and translating to only 370km - landing you in the ocean half way back, so obviously going to be very much restricted as to pax load. This is likely to quite restrictive, as that reduced range (with the max pax) obviously comes about from an overall weight limit for the short take off - which has been achieved to quote those max pax by reducing the fuel load (and hence the range). Some of the specs state Block fuel for 200NM as 577kg, and for 400NM as 1,019KG. Sydney is a bit over 400NM (by about 5%). Using their 95kg per passenger, it looks like the passengers might be restricted by about 6 (out of a 48 seat load), so not so bad.

Restrictions on the way out that will kill the pax load more. The block fuel required for extending distances is not linear - as you have to carry the extra fuel from take off along the way. To get up to approx 850NM, I am going to guess that something like an extra 1,000kg or so of fuel would be needed. That will be a pax reduction of 11 or 12 - so only 75% of max pax.

Compare that to the Dash8-200 which claims an ability to take off from an 800m runway with full load - which gives a 1,520km range including reserve fuel - although only 36 seats to start with. Cruise speeds are similar.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

There's been quite a lot of articles mentioning the ATR42-600S as a Lord Howe capable aircraft. QFLink only allow 14 kg baggage on these services