Govt unveils aviation sector blueprint

16 Dec 2009, 6:14 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Australia's aviation industry is set for a shake-up with plans to build new airports and make life easier for passengers by easing bans on dangerous items.

Australia's aviation industry is set for a shake-up with plans to welcome more foreign investment, build new airports and make life easier for passengers by easing bans on dangerous items.

But the government's long-awaited white paper, Flight Path of the Future, guarantees decisions on a second Sydney airport are still some time away.

The paper, Australia's first long-term strategic plan for the aviation industry, was released in Canberra on Wednesday by Transport Minister Anthony Albanese.

Mr Albanese stressed it was no longer good enough to have an ad hoc policy to deal with issues as they arise.

"This risk-averse strategy was perhaps best paraphrased by Spike Milligan: `We have no plan, nothing can go wrong'," Mr Albanese said.

"Frankly, the times deserve and the times demand better," he said, adding air travel was expected to double over the next 20 years.

Broadly, the plan is aimed at boosting competition and ensuring the survival of the $6.3 billion sector with plans to free up the skies to foreign competitors, build more airports and tighten security.

Baggage and passenger screening will be strengthened, but less vital security measures will be eased.

Among specific measures, bans on certain cabin items will be dropped - such as knitting needles, tweezers and nail files - and metal cutlery will return for in-flight meals.

The paper acknowledged such restrictions, inconsistent with those in the United States and the UK, had been causing confusion and delays for minimal security benefit.

Of the more than 130 policy initiatives outlined in the paper, safety and security will remain the industry's top priorities.

The government wants to maintain Australia's impressive air safety record and has promised extra funding to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, while big aeroplanes will be fitted with tougher on-board security.

Qantas has welcomed the government's plans to ease restrictions on foreign ownership of the flagship carrier, saying the limit will be raised to match the levels adopted by its rivals.

But plans killing off the Badgerys Creek site as Sydney's second airport have not been received so well.

The government will set up a taskforce to find a better location and promises to consult more effectively with the public over noise and flight path issues.

Mr Albanese acknowledged tensions between the community and the needs of airports would "never be completely" reconciled, but they could be better balanced.

Community groups said the taskforce simply amounted to more delay tactics, given it will not report back until mid-2011.

The paper also cited a need for better access to air travel in regional areas and steps to reduce its carbon footprint.

Aviation makes up about two per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions - a figure set to rise given the expected boom in flight numbers.

About 50 million people travelled by air domestically in the last financial year - almost three times the number of two decades ago.

Mr Albanese also flagged an intention to boost foreign competition on international routes, saying repeatedly that he welcomed the liberalisation of the market.

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