BNE rated #1 in ACCC survey for 10th year running

Brisbane Airport (BNE) has retained its first place rating for the tenth year in a row in the annual Airport Monitoring Report by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The Report presents the results of the ACCC’s monitoring, during 2012/13, of the quality, prices, costs and profits at the country’s four major international airports: Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

Brisbane was the only one of the airports covered to have achieved an overall quality of service rating of ‘good’* and, since 2002/03, the only airport not to have reported a deterioration of aeronautical price/quality of service outcomes.

Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO and Managing Director Julieanne Alroe said she expected BNE’s performance would have improved even further over the ensuing nine months.

“Since the reporting period ended we have made significant steps in reducing flight delays, with on-time performance at BNE during February around the 90 per cent mark, on par with our counterparts in Sydney and Melbourne. All agreements with airlines are also now in place for the new runway and we’ve commenced the redevelopment of the International Terminal arrivals and departures areas as well as started improvements in the central part of the Domestic Terminal.

“All these projects are part of a planned $2.5 billion investment program for BNE over the next decade,” she said.

The ACCC report highlighted a strong performance by BAC in quality of service to consumers, having achieved the highest rating by passengers in each of the last five years.

Kerbside pick-up and drop-off facilities, taxi facilities waiting time, and kerbside space congestion at both the International and Domestic Terminals were all rated good.

The rating for quality of car parking services by domestic passengers increased on the previous year’s report but there was a slight decline in in the rating from international passengers.

There was a decline recorded in airlines’ rating of the availability of runways during this period, a result the report noted coincided with the temporary closure of Brisbane’s cross-runway in late 2012/early 2013 and the fact that BNE recorded the largest increase in aircraft movements.

Despite the lower rating for runway access, airlines’ ratings for availability and standard of taxiways, aprons, aircraft parking and ground handling were either ‘good’ or ‘satisfactory’.

Ms Alroe said BAC had been working closely with airlines and AirServices Australia to increase available capacity in the existing runway system. BAC also had significant investment planned in additional taxiways and apron over the next few years.

“The $1.3 billion New Parallel Runway is the long-term solution to increased demand at BNE and as the report noted, BAC green-lit that project toward the end of 2013,” she said.

*The rating categories are: very poor, poor, satisfactory, good and excellent.