A regional airline operating out of Canberra has cited the carbon tax as a ”major factor” in its decision to axe two of its regular routes in favour of the more lucrative charter business catering to the resources boom.
Brindabella Airlines, a Qantas affiliate that runs a small regional network, will cancel its flights between Canberra and Albury - traditionally used by Australian Tax Office workers - and Brisbane and Armidale.
The announcement sparked a stoush in Parliament, with the Coalition hammering the government over the axing of the routes and disagreement over the statement released by Brindabella highlighting the carbon tax’s impact.
Chief operating officer Ian Vanderbeek said the carbon tax would cost the airline about $1000 a day. The extra impost was one of several factors that were making the routes unprofitable, he said.
”We now need to be seriously looking at where we can make the best utilisation of our resources. Realistically you have to work the assets a little harder now with the cost of being in this sector,” he said.
”Where these routes are line-ball, one has to make a decision overall as to whether you redeploy elsewhere and that’s what we’ve done.”
Brindabella CEO Jeff Boyd hosted Coalition leader Tony Abbott for a press conference to attack the carbon tax last July. Coalition regional development spokesman Bob Baldwin has also cited Mr Boyd while addressing Parliament on the carbon tax. Mr Vanderbeek said that he personally had had no additional contact with the Coalition and nor, to his knowledge, had Mr Boyd in his capacity as Brindabella CEO.
Mr Vanderbeek said other factors affecting the routes had been the cancellation of the en-route rebate scheme, which provided a rebate to carriers that operated on certain regional routes. There had also been a drop in passengers between Canberra and Albury.
He could not say that these route cancellations would not have happened anyway. The aircraft will be used for charter flights, mostly catering to workers in the resources boom.
