The Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO) has urged the Federal Government to consider an open skies agreement for Australia to help boost international travel.
CATO managing director Brett Jardine, chair Dennis Bunnik and vice chair Lisa Pagotto met with Special Minister of State and Minister of Trade and Tourism Senator Don Farrell in Adelaide to ram home the importance of increasing air capacity, putting the idea of a 12-24 month open skies agreement on the table.
“Our tour operator and wholesaler members are seeing their post-Covid recovery curtailed by the severe lack of airline capacity and the resulting high prices being demanded by airlines,” Jardine said.
To access landing slots at Australian airports, international airlines currently rely on bilateral agreements between countries. But this is severely restricting travel recovery, says CATO.
By contrast, an open skies agreement would allow carriers to fly in and out of Australia with unlimited capacity and give the travel industry its biggest single boost to recovery.
The council also asserts it will create jobs, help exports and address labour shortages.
“The positive impacts of an open skies strategy will be felt throughout the economy,” Jardine added.
Representing the land supply sector of the Australian travel industry, CATO tour operators and wholesalers deliver domestic and international travel both to consumers and through travel agencies.
Talking to Karryon last month, Jardine said membership numbers were well over 200, and that “we have experienced over 30 per cent growth since the onset of Covid”.
According to CATO, outbound leisure travel created an economic benefit of more than $12 billion per year before the pandemic and supports international aviation capacity.
Read Karryon’s interview with Jardine in the lead-up to CATO’s Industry Christmas Lunch, which is open to the entire travel industry for the first time.
For more on CATO, visit cato.travel.
