Disagree, we've seen enough local airlines go to the wall, without giving foreigners an entirely unfair advantage!

All we need is competition, and we already have that in spades.

What would put some real competition and much lower fares in the hands of Aussie travelers, would be a very fast train plying the eastern seaboard.

And perhaps that's where we invite foreign providers in?

Say the Chinese and Chinese built Mag/levs? Which would allow us to actually afford them?

And what difference would that be, when measured against tax avoiding foreign operators plying our skies with foreign built planes, fueled with foreign oil, maintained in foreign lands by foreign staff and possibly crewed by foreign flight crews?

And that's before you even begin to factor in our homeland security, let alone local jobs!

Alternatively we could continue to chase our tails toward the totally mindless common denominator; which can only ever harm all of us ultimately!

This land and our egalitarian society was built on the back of the simple fair minded concept of a fair days work for a fair days pay and a fair go!

Eroding that by any means can only ever destroy both!
Rhrosty.

Australia has a love affair with monopolies, for some strange reason. Think Macquarie and Sydney Airport.

If a monopoly is not possible, then a duopoly is the go. Which has been par for the course in the airline business since Moses played full forward for Collingwood - from TAA/Ansett to Qantas/Virgin, lock-step price management, lock-step scheduling. Flying Sydney to Melbourne? Timetables and fare structures are virtually identical, every day of the week. As they have always been.

And if a duopoly ain't possible, try an oligopoly; when was the last time our four big Banks actually competed? Together their annual profits exceed $1,300 for every man, woman and child in Australia, which we pay out of out after-tax income, of course. A tribute to their management excellence, the irresistible nature of their "products", or simply a systematic gouging of the Australian public?

Why do we put up with it?

I suspect there is an undercurrent of xenophobia here that the government exploits every time there is the whiff of competition from them damned furriners. Add to that the fact that we somehow idolise the Dick Smiths of this world, who blatantly make a motza out of importing junk and making their billions, then whine about buying Austrayan when the heat is on.

One day soon, we will find that we have priced ourselves out of every single market - even tourism. That's when we will have the recession we deserve.

It's not just about the profitability of our airlines, but also the workers. Wages on foreign airlines are significantly lower than their domestic counterparts. And there are significant safety issues that would have to be overcome before it can be approved.

FWIW I think we should allow more cabotage. But rather than restricting it to northern Australia, we should do it on a fuel stop basis: if they stop to refuel an aircraft somewhere in Australia that doesn't involve significant detouring, they should be able to take passengers from there to their ultimate Australian destination. Those passengers should be charged a cabotage tax (possibly an extra $5 on aircraft with less than a hundred seats, $10 on single aisle aircraft with more, and higher with widebodies). It should not be permitted to or from our four biggest airports. And it should only apply to airlines based in countries where our airlines have fifth freedom rights.

How to make a small fortune in aviation?
Answer:-
Start off with a large fortune.

Rhosty touched on today's main problem with air fares - lack of competition.
He thinks laterally when he suggests super-fast rail.The need is to be able to go from one place in this huge nation to another at the most competitive cost.
It doesn't matter if that is by air,rail or high speed bus; what will make low fares happen is competition.
The existing airlines have had heaps of time to work out ways of lightening passenger costs, but have not had the force of competition breathing down their necks to make them deliver.
If more people can travel cheaper by air anywhere in Australia, not just the north, then flying becomes a very attractive practical product which would generate vastly increased turnover.
Remember the days when it was the "norm" to fly to the U.K. in about a week for a cost equal to a year's salary? Compare it to today, and thank competition for the difference.

Ponder, the difference is the result of better technology, not competition.

Competition has brought lower prices, and often better service, but it can't make an unprofitable service profitable. Better technology can.

We do need high speed rail, but not for the sake of competition. It uses much less fuel than aviation, and it is much easier to use renewable energy to power it. And it can provide a very large amount of capacity.

And of course once we get high speed rail, it will provide competition on some very busy routes. But there's currently no shortage of competition on the busiest routes anyway. High speed rail won't be viable in Northern Australia until the population is much higher.