Virgin Blue Airlines Pty Limited has notified the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, under Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act 1974, of an access dispute with Sydney Airport Corporation Limited.
The dispute relates to the method of allocating costs for access to the Airside Service between airline users of that service and the basis on which the price for access to the Airside Service should be levied. The declared Airside Service is:
The service for the use of runways, taxiways, parking aprons and other associated facilities necessary to allow aircraft carrying domestic passengers to:
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(a) take off and land using the runways at Sydney Airport, and
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(b) move between the runways and the passenger terminals at Sydney Airport.
The ACCC has commenced the arbitration process for this access dispute. Given that the legislation contemplates that arbitrations be conducted in private, the ACCC will not be making any public comment at this stage.