Aviation
Regional aviation
Regional aviation provides essential social and economic links for non-metropolitan Australia. Regular, accessible, affordable and viable air services are a vital factor in regional development. Country communities with air services show economic growth nearly twice that exhibited by those without them. Regional aviation is also a key element in equity of access for many country people, and can be a matter of life and death in rural and remote areas.
Local councils own and operate about 200 regional airports and aerodromes in Australia. The Regional Aviation Association of Australia represents most of these airports and the operators who use them.
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Transport and Regional Services released its Making Ends Meet report in December 2003. The report provides powerful arguments for better resourcing and federal assistance for local government owned regional airports and acknowledges many of the points made in ALGA's submission to the inquiry.
The Australian Government is yet to respond to this key report. ALGA seeks the Government's commitment to implement key recommendations of the report that call for the introduction of a new airport subsidy scheme and the maintenance of the Remote Air Service Subsidy Scheme.
