New England Visions 2030 Institute will host a free public forum to discuss the current state of Armidale’s air services.
The forum will be held on Wednesday 4 June at the Armidale City Bowling Club from 5.30pm and will feature a discussion surrounding the results of a public survey on flight reliability in the region.
“The issues with travel from Armidale Airport are part of a wider transport problem for the area.” said Convenor of New England Visions 2030, Maria Hitchcock OAM.
“We are basically in the middle of Sydney and Brisbane and so many people need to travel for work, medical and personal reason.”
“Yet we remain trapped with roads that are poorly maintained and subject to weather conditions, a slow rail or bus service that often requires travellers to spend additional money on accommodation, or our air services which are clouded with so much uncertainty when it comes to reliability of service.”
The survey is still open to all local residents to complete until this Saturday 31 May. Ms Hitchcock says that the results they have had thus far however, paint a very bleak picture with regards to public confidence in air travel to and from the region.
“When it comes to the question, ‘Can you rely on air services to and from Armidale?’ 74 per cent of respondents have ticked disagree, or strongly disagree.,” said Ms Hitchcock.
“70 per cent of respondents also went on to say that they have had their plans disrupted 1-5 times; 50 per cent said they have missed events because of delays in flights; and a vast majority have said they have suffered a financial loss $250-$500 as a direct result of delayed or cancelled flights.”
It would seem that even booking flights a day or two in advance of planned events is not enough to guarantee a smooth trip, with Ms Hitchcock providing her own example of transport difficulties.
“I had to attend a conference in Busselton in WA late last year and I did what over 85 per cent of our respondents do and booked flights the day before to hopefully ensure that any delays would still not change my ability to be at the conference in a timely fashion,” said Ms Hitchcock.
“But all the flights from Armidale ended up being cancelled so I then had to get to Tamworth to get on the one available flight – this meant additional costs for me in both the missed accommodation in Sydney, and the extra accommodation I had to purchase in Tamworth at a highly inflated cost.”
“Essentially we are all at such a disadvantage because of a lack of reliable transport options and for a region as large and as lucrative as Armidale, that’s just not good enough.”
The lack of customer service from QANTAS has also been cited as an ongoing issue for regional travellers.
“You can’t contact QANTAS Link anymore if you have an issue,” said Ms Hitchcock.
“The Tamworth office has been closed for some time now and your only real option is to just email and hope that you hear something back.”
The forum will not only discuss finalised survey results, but it will also endeavour to open up a conversation about how the future of air transport in Armidale can be improved.
“On the one side we have the argument that Armidale Airport was simply built in the wrong location for the both the ground and atmospheric conditions, but on the other side is the very real issue that QANTAS needs competition,” said Ms Hitchcock.
“Rex Airlines are still not flying out of Armidale.”
Guest speakers on the evening will include Uralla Mayor, Robert Bell, Andrew Hall from Airport ground operations, and Martin Levins from landing systems.
QANTAS have been approached to provide a representative to speak on the evening but have so far neglected to respond.
“It is very unsatisfactory that we have been unable to get any kind of response from QANTAS so far,” said Ms Hitchcock.
Armidale Council have also reportedly not been forthcoming in providing a spokesperson, or support for the survey and forum, with the group being denied permission to display information about the Air Services in Armidale survey on the grounds of the Armidale Airport.
“It all just stems back to this being yet another example of regional areas not being looked after, we’re too low on the priority list,” said Ms Hitchcock.
To have your say on the Air Services in Armidale survey, click through to the website.
Attendance to next Wednesday’s Forum is free and no pre-registration is required.
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