New Zealand
New Zealand seeks to remain competitive
- The New Zealand government is launching a wide-ranging overhaul of its policies for international air service agreements, in a bid to improve access to overseas markets.
This initiative reflects the need for small, trade-oriented nations like New Zealand to have cutting-edge aviation policies in place to remain competitive on the global stage. Due to its geographical location, developing long-haul air links is vital to the country’s economy.
Aviation officials say the aim of the review is to decide what sort of agreements New Zealand should seek during negotiations.
According to a statement by The Ministry of Transport's chief executive, Martin Matthews, the ministry is reviewing its international aviation policies for the first time since 1998. He was addressing a meeting of the New Zealand division of the Royal Aeronautical Society. There likely will be an increased focus on multilateral rather than bilateral deals, and Matthews signaled that ownership and control restrictions may also be addressed.
"The traditional approach of bilateral agreements is simply not sustainable in the long run, and the challenge for governments is how to address that,” he said. He also noted that the European Union and other regional blocs are taking a multilateral approach, and a major issue for New Zealand will be how it, too, can take advantage of multilateral alignments.
NZ Airports Association Chief Executive Kevin Ward says that while the current aviation services policy was considered progressive when it was established more than a decade ago, “it won’t provide the edge we need in the future.” He says the government “has got to be quite bold [with its new policy] and look for something that might seem quite radical.”
The government should drop its emphasis on attaining reciprocal rights for access it grants to other countries, says Ward. This recognizes the fact that many other countries have carriers that are growing far more quickly than New Zealand’s, and this presents an opportunity for new service. Ward also believes that “constraining” ownership rules should be relaxed.
Although it is relies heavily on tourism, New Zealand needs to do more to spur visitor numbers, Ward says. He notes that Australia has a higher tourist growth rate, and many overseas airlines serve Australia and not New Zealand. “If we keep playing the game in the same way, we will fall further behind,” Ward says. “We don’t have the door open as much as we could.”
New Zealand’s size means it needs to look to international activity to boost its economy, says Ross Clapcott, chief adviser at the Ministry of Economic Development. However, the country is disadvantaged due to its distance from many major markets.
To help overcome this distance handicap, “New Zealand’s aviation policies and their implementation have to be not just as good as, but better than, its competitors’,” Clapcott says. As well as boosting trade, this will also reduce the risk of Australia becoming the hub for air service to New Zealand.
source: aviation week
