YSWG - Wagga City Airport

2025-04-27 19:07

In 2018 a large number of Wagga City Aero Club members attended council chambers to discuss changes in the Airport fees. At that meeting, the councillors elected to provide the Aircraft Annual Landing Permit for all Private General Aviation and Recreational aircraft that wished to engage, in support of General Aviation and the Wagga City Aero Club 2018. This decision was made in an effort to assuage declining General Aviation, which has been suffering at the smaller regional airports nation wide. Recognition that General Aviation is the grass-roots from which Maintenance Engineers and Pilots are made.

There were of the order of 7 members who were eligible to immediately take up the offer in the coming financial years. This was adopted and we felt we had a solid case until 2023-2024 where the terms were allegedly surreptitiously changed, and under circumstances where the Wagga City Aero Club was not notified and could not be heard. A seemingly insignificant change in terms of revenue that has far reaching flow-on consequences to the community as I can relate to personally.

For aircraft operators on farms, and in the surrounding regions of Albury, Jindabyne, Adaminaby, Tumut, Cootamundra, Temora, Narrandera, Young, Cowra, Parkes, Orange, Wellington, and indeed Bankstown, our once regular visitors to the Wagga City Aero Club have been dissuaded from attending Aero Club and other events as a result.

I personally used YSWG as my re-fuelling stop instead of purchasing fuel at Canberra, and now instead I fly to Temora, which is much more attractive in terms of fuel cost and infrastructure amenity, and has zero landing fees and is indeed closer to Canberra.

Having aircraft forced away from an airports due to fee structures and other tenancy issues sends a strong signal that effectively causes pressure and the decline of General Aviation at the airport. The follow-on consequences of reducing number of aircraft which affects maintenance, fuel supply and other community retail outlets.

Pilots will vote with their feet as I have voted, thus I am now an infrequent visitor to YSWG and instead I buy most of my fuel from YTEM (and not at my home airport YSCB).

It is rather disappointing that the changes were made to the Annual Landing Permit and this financial year council have provided an indication that they will continue with the changed terms.

The council meeting on this matter is at 18:00 at council chambers 28 Apr 2025. I will post the results of that meeting after I attend.

I also draw your attention to:

• https://www.change.org/p/alter-charges-and-abolish-landing-fees-for-light-aircraft-at-regional-airports
• https://www.facebook.com/ralph.holland.505/posts/pfbid02VAMLZWtvMnSviETkG67VED7LLgjquSGXmYgCWt7q5y3THw4HqFcMCFjE1Y6hSwf7l
• RP-5 https://meetings.wagga.nsw.gov.au/Open/2025/04/OC_28042025_AGN_5012_AT.PDF

I wonder if the council will take heed to our submissions? I guess they may instead remain on the category:GA unfriendly airports list, along with many more councils we can add to this list.

2025-04-28 circa 18:35 update

Council accepted my talk against the introduction of fee changes and then moved a motion to defer any vote on the matter to the next council meeting until after they have had the opportunity to read the other submissions that were not tabled.

This provides the public a second opportunity to speak to RP-5 fee changes at the next council meeting during the public session.

I argued that I have changed my flying pattern and now refuel almost exclusively at Temora due to financial drivers caused by changes to the YSWG airport fees. I do not have an insignificant fuel draw-down and both Temora and I win while Wagga loses. I then called on the council to reconsider the fees and to incentivise visiting aircraft and to counter the decline of GA at their gateway.

The Wagga City Airport has lost flight training, and now a maintenance organisation, and I mentioned I have seen this happen at other airports.

The local area has such a large captive range of aircraft if only the council could incentivise and lower fees to attract more aircraft. More pilots resulting in subsequent greater spend in the community.

I flew in recently just to meet up with relatives who were travelling through on a 4WD trip and we had dinner in a restaurant. Jim Morgan uses the airport as his road from his property into town to conduct business, and other pilots have been known to do similar, and that is spend money in the community.

Clinton McKenzie and the Cootamundra aviation community managed to have their council remove the fees imposed on the Southern Cross Gliding Club - who bring in between $50,000 to $100,000 each visit, depending on numbers.

Places like Temora also have a zero landing fee policy and that airport attracts gliding competitions that utterly and completely fill the town.

Airports and associated aviation events can very easily result in an uplift to regional economies, and general aviation is essential for agriculture, fire fighting and aero medical transport, maintenance, training and are the suppliers for people who start out and keep the big end of town running. once GA is eroded and the airports decline it is very hard to get the activity back - and then a greedy property developer subsumes the runways and aviation is gone.

The proposal was to increase fees by about 8% which is well above CPI and somehow in 2024 they imposed a resident-only constraint on the Annual Landing Permit despite voting to rescind that in 2018 to help the Aero Club and General Aviation - which is in decline nation wide.

If the fees increase at YSWG and the Annual Landing Permit is restricted to resident aircraft only, then I have elected to take my business to Temora - purely based on cost drivers. I have decided to reduce my flights next financial year to once a month to attend Wagga City Aero Club lunches and visit Temora even more since it is closer and cheaper for me to refuel at Temora.

I have heard some of our other aero club members do likewise and that is refuel at Temora. It is nothing personal, it is about getting the most air coverage for our dollar.

I also save money and fuel flying to Moruya (27 minutes flight time) than when I fly to Wagga Wagga (54 minutes flight time) - which way would you go with your grandkids if you were choosing?

A seemingly small change in a fee or an impost can have far reaching consequences for the community. Could you imagine what would happen if they charged people to launch their boats from the boat ramp, have you pay to drive down the Main Street, or to use the public toilets - all provided to the community free of charge? Yet the council charges for access to the mere 1.77km piece of tar called a runway. That little stretch of bitumen is the gateway to your city.