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Socialist airlines

I was surprised (& grumpy) to discover that of the roughly $100 it costs to fly between Burnie & Melbourne, only about $50 is actually for the flight. The other $50 vanishes in fees & taxes & other forgettabilia.

Of the roughly $250 it costs to fly MEL -> PER, only about $60—$70 vanishes.

So it almost looks likes the airlines are getting taxed about $50 a flight by the government, plus about 7%.

Um, it’s not like they have roads to resurface or anything, & with (say) 300 passengers in a medium-sized ’plane, that’d be about $17,000 a flight dedicated to maintaining the runways etc (ie, costs not directly attributable to that particular flight).

Wonder if anything sensible can be done about that?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Actually I think you'll find the airport maintenance et al is paid for by direct airport charges.

However, someone has to pay for the wars that keep the oil supply that fuels the planes in motion. I'm all for user pays on that!
Anonymous said…
Wonder if anything sensible can be done about that?


Yes. Fly less. That way when you start having to pay another extra $100 per flight to attempt to offset emissions, you won't feel the pain.
Leon RJ Brooks said…
timc: bit of a problem for Tasmania.

Yes, we can take the Spirit of Tasmania across to Melbourne (no longer Sydney) but it takes a full day (or night). Plus driving to Devonport. Only two extra hours from here, but still...

OTOH, we can take a car along, something even wide-bodied jets aren’t so good at.

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