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Billie Moore: NZ Airport Association Chief Executive says Airports Association is not to blame for increase in fare prices · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

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  Speaker 1: If you feel like we're paying the highest price for
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  Speaker 1: domestic airfares, you're wre not wrong. The Airport Council International
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  Speaker 1: says domestic airfares have increased sixty three percent in this
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  Speaker 1: country since twenty nineteen. That's one of the biggest jumps
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  Speaker 1: in the world. The report says it's mostly down to inflation,
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  Speaker 1: not airport fees. Billy Moore is New Zealand Airport's Association
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  Speaker 1: Chief executive. Billy good Morning, Good morning. This report is
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  Speaker 1: from and it's an airports group, isn't it So they
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  Speaker 1: would say this, wouldn't they.
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  Speaker 2: Look, yeah, you're right, there's a global airports group. But
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  Speaker 2: the methodology is robust. It draws on the same global
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  Speaker 2: data sets used by both airports and airlines around the world,
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  Speaker 2: so the data is sound.
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  Speaker 1: In New Zealand says, look, our costs have gone up.
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  Speaker 1: That's the reason that the fares are going up. You know,
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  Speaker 1: their costs are up forty percent of twenty nineteen. Their
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  Speaker 1: prices are up thirty five percent.
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  Speaker 2: Look. Criticizing airport charges has long been a business strategy
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  Speaker 2: for large airlines at every point in the cycle. But
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  Speaker 2: the airport charges are not the reason it costs one
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  Speaker 2: thousand and fifteen hundred dollars to fly to a regional
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  Speaker 2: center on average, and airport charges about five seven percent
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  Speaker 2: of a total airline operating costs. What this report is
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  Speaker 2: showing us is that the New Zealand's flight cost increases
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  Speaker 2: are the highest in the region. It's sixty three percent.
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  Speaker 2: It is time to look more closely at why that is.
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  Speaker 2: The key driver that we see is around capacity reduction.
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  Speaker 2: So as airlines reduce their capacity, they're spreading those cost
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  Speaker 2: increases that they're citing over a smaller number of passengers.
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  Speaker 2: That's why flights are so full, that's why air views
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  Speaker 2: are so high, and we really need to see that
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  Speaker 2: start to tune around.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, they've got engine issues, this is what they
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  Speaker 1: would argue anyway. Is this just more of that. It's
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  Speaker 1: the airports versus their New Zealand. You know, this is
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  Speaker 1: the long running saga continues.
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  Speaker 2: Oh look, you know, as I see, it's long been
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  Speaker 2: a strategy for them to target airports. Is the problem.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's not the case.
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  Speaker 1: Your things are going up on they walk on the airport.
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  Speaker 1: One hundred and forty four million dollars this year, it'll
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  Speaker 1: be four hundred and seventy six million dollars by twenty
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  Speaker 1: thirty two that they've got to pay.
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  Speaker 2: It's not there is a number that the airlines have
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  Speaker 2: come up with they're also going to be making Is
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  Speaker 2: it wrong? Billion dollars from that amount?
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  Speaker 1: Is the number wrong? Is the number wrong? Is how
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  Speaker 1: much will they be paying in twenty thirty two if
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  Speaker 1: not four hundred and seventy six million.
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  Speaker 2: The reason why that's not a number that's actually out
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  Speaker 2: there is because the airports have to console with your
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  Speaker 2: lines before they make any decisions around those costs out
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  Speaker 2: to twenty thirty two. So it is a lobbying exercise
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  Speaker 2: from the airlines to come up with that number.
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  Speaker 1: All right, So the numbers wrong, numbers wrong. Billy, appreciate
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  Speaker 1: your time this morning. That's Billy Moore and New Zealand
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  Speaker 1: Airports Association chief executive.
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  Speaker 2: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge.
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