Tigerair Australia (Melbourne Airport) has withdrawn an application with the Australian National Competition Council (NCC) to have Sydney Airport Corporation Limited (SACL) declared. Early last month, the LCC took the Sydney Kingsford Smith-operator to the NCC over concerns it was being competitively disadvantaged by constraints at the airport's domestic terminal (Terminal 2).
However, it has since emerged that in the wake of extensive talks, the two parties have now reached a new agreement leading the NCC to close the issue.
“Today’s agreement gives Tigerair a fair go at Sydney Airport and will enable us to continue to focus on creating a strong operating platform that supports sustainable growth and brings healthy competition to the budget air travel market,” Tigerair Australia CEO Rob Sharp told AustralianAviation.
In addition to problems concerning access to check-in counters, departure gates, bussing arrangements, baggage reclaim facilities and way finding signage, the Tigerair (Singapore Changi) subsidiary had complained that it had been unable to increase the number of aircraft based at the airport from 4 to 6 owing to infrastructural constraints. Collectively, these shortcomings had driven up the airline's overall costs leading to a decline in its competitiveness, it said.
Sharp went on to describe his airline's relationship with the SACL as "sound."
