David Eyre 
VH-ZND Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (MSN 63390/669) of Qantas, in special Aboriginal 'Yam Dreaming' livery, named 'Emily Kame Kngwarreye', at Perth Airport – 24 March 2018. Photo © Richard Kreider. Photographed at Bay 20A, Terminal 3 at 6:16pm, prior to departing on the historic first direct Perth - London Heathrow QF9 service.
Flight QF10 direct from London-Heathrow, taxying in to park at Terminal 3.
Photo © David Eyre.
16 June 2019 © David Eyre
Perth Airport and Qantas are locked in a bitter legal dispute over airport charges, and Qantas claims the dispute is delaying its proposed new services to Paris, Frankfurt, and Johannesburg.
The dispute came to light in December 2018, when Perth Airport issued a Supreme Court writ against Qantas for unpaid airport charges.
What is the dispute about?
Airports uses airport charges, such as landing fees and other airport charges to fund expansion, maintenance and other operations.The airlines pass these costs on to passengers as part of the cost of a ticket. A new agreement to charge lower fees started on 1 July 2018.
Perth Airport obtained agreement from all other airlines using the airport, except Qantas, despite robust negotiations.
Instead, Qantas chose to pay what it considered to be an appropriate rate – about 60% of the airport’s new rate. Therefore, the longer the dispute continues, the larger the deficit between Qantas’ payments and Perth Airport’s actual charged amounts. The deficit is currently believed to be about $30 million and increasing.
Qantas also wants an independent body created to resolve disputes when airlines and airports do not agree on airport charges. However, the Australian Government’s Productivity Commission does not support this idea, as it would have an adverse effect on airport investments.
Qantas delays start of Perth – Paris services
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the legal action has led to the airline delaying orders for Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners needed to operate planned non-stop services between Perth and Paris.
Perth Airport says that as part of the original 2016 deal for Qantas to operate international flights from Perth Airport’s Terminal 3 on the west side of the airport, the Airport had already agreed that services to Paris and Frankfurt could operate from Terminal 3.
Qantas countered that the new airport charges rate makes the service uneconomical as airport charges comprise 1% of the cost of the airline ticket. Perth Airport disagrees, saying its fees were only $15 per passenger on a one-way Qantas flight, compared to the Perth-London airfare of $1800 return.
Terminals dispute
Qantas also wants to operate new services on the Perth – Auckland and Perth – Johannesburg routes from Terminal 3 on the west side of the airport.
Perth Airport said these routes were not part of the 2016 agreement to operate from T3, and it wants Qantas to operate these services from Terminal 1 International, on the east side of the airport.
Qantas does not agree, saying this is inconvenient for passengers transferring from/to Qantas domestic flights, as they would have to travel to opposite sides of the airport, and Qantas would need staff to move between both sides of the airport.
Qantas is aware of long-standing plans by Perth Airport to co-locate all airlines around the Airport Central precinct (where Terminal 1 is located), by 2025.
Perth Airport may be concerned because the more Qantas expands its international operations at Terminal 3, the more reluctant the airline will be to relocate to Airport Central in 2025.
QANTAS just needs to pay up like every other airline, it was just ridiculous to the extreme to even allow QF to operate any international services from T3. T1 is for international services, no other airport in Australia allows QF to operate from a domestic terminal, so why should Perth have to.
Unfortunately, the previous state government went on the side of QF when it came to the request to allow international services from T3, so shame on the previous government for that and with it a shed load of tax payers money to held fund the alterations to T3. The Perth airport board was forced, actually bullied, into letting QF use T3 for its LHR and SIN services.
It is just absolute garbage for QF to say that Perth airport is holding up their plans for expansion, there is plenty of room over at T1 to accommodate them, particularly now as ETIHAD has gone and EK just the one evening service.
It was just nonsense in the extreme to say they needed to operate out of T3 for ”the masses of interstate QF passengers who were transferring to the LHR and SIN services.”
Its worth bearing in mind that two other major airports are owed huge amounts for landing fees by QF, so Mr Joyce, ”Just pay your bills” and stop telling fibs about PER stopping your expansion plans.
I hope PER management stick to their guns here and make QF pay.
When VIRGIN moved across from T3 to their new wing attached to T1, QF should have been made to do the same, then all this agro and nonsense would have been avoided.
Although QF is the largest operator out of PER, it still doesnt give them the right not to pay their fees and charges, common sense needs to come to the fore here, or replace Joyce with someone with a fair sense of responsibility.