By Julietta jameson
Here comes the bride, again: Alex Pelling and Lisa Gant on an Air Tahiti Nui flight.
A doubling in passenger movements is set to provide a huge challenge for Australia's airports.
Sydney Airport may have had its highest-rated customer satisfaction level in 10 years in an annual survey, but a peak industry body says it needs to act now to avoid esteem sinking.
The Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) believes constraints on it are too restrictive and must be addressed if Sydney is to keep pace with projected passenger growth.
Every year the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission surveys customer satisfaction with Australia's airports. If you're wondering why the ACCC is sticking its nose into the business of air travel, it's because airports are monopolies and not subject to that grand old market regulator called choice. The recent ACCC report on airports indicates ratings of no higher than "satisfied" with major Australian airports across the board.
But how long can any of our airports keep even that response up, when passenger movements are projected to double by 2030? (The movements were forecast to increase by 3.7 per cent a year over the 20 years from 2010-11, when they were 135.1 million, to 279.2 million in 2030-31.)
Most facilities are making inroads. Melbourne (where last year's 29.1 million passengers will balloon to 64.4 million by 2030) has been fully refurbished and is proposing a new runway; Brisbane is already building one. Perth is undergoing a $700 million renovation and Adelaide is redeveloping as well.
Sydney is will reconfigure its terminals so there is less congestion out on the tarmac - however, our biggest, most important airport remains somewhat hog-tied, according to the TTF.
"The movement cap of 80 take-offs or landings per hour is a crude measure implemented in the 1990s for political purposes and now holds the airport back," says Justin Wastnage, director of aviation policy with the forum.
"The slot management system, which is measured in 15-minute blocks, causes delays across the entire Australian network, and the refusal to allow even weather-delayed aircraft permission to land a minute after 11pm has led to stranded passengers.
"The movement cap is a crude measure based on the assumption that more flights means more noise." But he points to other airports around the world that have adopted "more nuanced approaches to airport operations that both increase capacity at the same time as reducing noise to neighbouring suburbs".
Some examples are Amsterdam, where a wholesale re-routing of flight paths, done in consultation with community groups, led to an increase of 30 per cent in flights but a 15 per cent reduction in noise for residents. In San Francisco, a league table of the quietest airlines is published, encouraging residents to reward those carriers who try the hardest to train pilots in quiet flight paths. In Paris, landing fees are cheaper for quieter aircraft.
Even if the impositions are lifted and issues addressed, the forum believes Sydney needs a second airport - and Badgerys Creek is the place for it.
Full stretch
Beanpoles and basketballers rejoice: regional air travel may no longer mean inflight leg origami. QantasLink plans to upgrade five Boeing 717 aircraft to include business-class seats.
The 717s, added to the QantasLink fleet only in January, are being outfitted to include a full business-class experience.
As well as appropriate seats, the pointy-end cabins will serve premium food and drink. They will be flying late this year on the Sydney-Canberra, Brisbane-Canberra and Melbourne-Canberra routes.
Meanwhile, Qantas domestic business-class customers flying from the Australian east coast to Perth will soon be served the same meals as their international counterparts. They will be chowing down on a three-course, Neil Perry-designed menu.
High anxiety
The flight-simulator entertainment company Flight Experience says aerophobia — the fear of flying — affects up to 25 per cent of Australians.
The company is cashing in on that with a serious, psychologist-led course to overcome aviation anxiety.
The course is run over four stages: the first is a consultation to establish cause; the second, an education session with a pilot; the third, more face time with the psychologist to help mentally prepare participants to face their flying fears; and the fourth is a flight-simulation experience whereby participants can pilot the flight deck.
One of the pilots sometimes involved is Captain David Evans, who supervised the landing of the A380 with engine failure in November 2010.
The course is available in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide and costs $1495 for individuals and $750 for groups.
Down the aisle
Everyone knows one: the couple that is all about the wedding. The twosome that, after all the euphoria, comes down to everyday-marriage earth with a thud.
Sky Report can't help but wonder if English couple Lisa Gant and Alex Pelling are such a duo. Gant and Pelling exchanged vows on-board an Air Tahiti Nui flight as they made their way to their "honeymoon" in Tahiti last month.
We parenthesise "honeymoon" because the two aren't actually married. Despite the sky-high nuptials at 30,000 feet, they won't officially wed until next year.
Meantime, they are travelling the world getting pseudo-hitched in a rainbow of colourful styles, from vampire to cowboy, and across the world from the top of the Canadian Rockies to the bottom of the ocean in Mexico in a quest to find the perfect spot for the real moment (and to raise money for UNICEF).
Their Air Tahiti Nui ceremony was in fact its 42nd wedding.
Air lines
In September, Emirates will start flying daily to Stockholm from Dubai, giving Aussies heading for Scandinavia another option. (Two, if you count code-share with Qantas.)
Most flights into Scandinavia go via Copenhagen, meaning going to Stockholm requires two stops. (Another option is via Amsterdam.)
A quick check with Flight Centre revealed two other airlines fly to Stockholm from Australia with one stop: Thai and Qatar airways.
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