An inquiry report released by the Productivity Commission has suggested Airservices Australia could be a candidate for privatisation.
The Public Infrastructure Report examined the way infrastructure planning and funding was handled in Australia and made several recommendations for change.
Recommendation 2.2 states that "The Australian Government should conduct scoping studies to investigate the efficiency gains and other merits of privatising some or all of the business activities of the Australian Rail Track Corporation and Airservices Australia. The study into Airservices Australia should include a review of the efficiency of its capital expenditure program, as recommended by the National Commission of Audit."
According to the report, Airservices Australia's performance makes it an ideal operation to be sold by the Federal Government.
"In the Commission’s view, Airservices Australia could potentially meet the criteria that would make it suitable for privatisation. It has made a profit and paid a dividend in recent years, and operates within an established regulatory regime (including economic regulation).
"Reforms of previous governments have ensured Airservices Australia is a pure service provider and undertakes no safety regulatory functions — indeed it must hold licences from the air safety regulator.
"It is common in Europe for aviation fire and rescue services and air traffic control around airports to be provided by individual airport operators or their contractors — indeed there is requirement for larger airports to periodically market test these air traffic control services. In the United Kingdom, en route air navigation services (including over the Atlantic Ocean) are provided by a company that has majority private ownership.
"Accordingly, there would be merit in conducting a scoping study that considered privatisation of some or all of Airservices Australia’s activities."
The full report can be downloaded from the Productivity Commission website.