A Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) report tabled earlier this month values the economic impact of commercial GA in Australia at between $3.6 and $10.2 billion.
The report, promised in the 2024 aviation white paper, gives such a wide value because BITRE established two different definitions of GA, one including passenger charter and one without, and because of difficulty obtaining accurate figures from available databases.
Importantly, BITRE's figures do not include the economic input of private and recreational aviation even though BITRE recognises both as part of any definition of GA.
"Drawing from BITRE’s calculations ... we estimate that direct economic activity in GA was worth between $3.6 billion and $10.2 billion in 2018–19 (2022–23 dollars) depending on the extent to which charter flights are included in the definition of GA," BITRE states in the report.
"Note that this is not a precise range, the datasets used do not line up precisely with any definition of general aviation.
"These estimates exclude RPAS, which was estimated at $77 million in 2020 and is expected to grow rapidly. They also exclude recreational use of aircraft, which contributed to 17% of total GA hours flown in 2022.
"Over half (51%) of GA aircraft are used at least in part for recreational purposes, most frequently pleasure and personal transport, so these dollar value estimates may be conservative."
BITRE reported that GA generates substantial economic activity from links to suppliers like manufacturers, maintenance companies and airports, as well as wages and profits for GA companies and businesses that GA enables. Although BITRE estimates this value to be "billions", they also point out that establishing an exact figure is not easy.
"Over recent years, some members of the GA community have voiced concerns about the sustainability and financial viability of GA in Australia," BITRE says. "A number of studies were undertaken to investigate these issues, with the most recent undertaken by BITRE (2017).
"The aim of this GA Study was to examine the GA industry in Australia and outline the challenges facing the industry and opportunities to respond to those challenges.
"The study outlined a number of claims and counter claims made by GA participants; however, the study noted that it was difficult to verify many of the claims as there were no robust economic datasets compiled for the GA Sector, restricting analysis of the impact of the various cost pressures facing GA or the contribution GA makes to the economy."
BITRE's breakdown of GA's economic impact show the estimated values of GA sectors for the years 2019-20 as:
- aerial agriculture $359 million
- passenger charter and flight instruction $5.5 billion
- other GA plus freight $2.7 billion
- maintenance $3.9 billion.
BITRE also found that aircraft in all sectors flew 2.8 million hours in 2022, of which 44% was GA and 18% charter, making the combined definition a significant proportion compared to the 38% flown on RPT operations.
Data in the report also showed the regional airports are critical to supporting the economic benefits of GA, but warns that funding gaps are putting that at risk.
"While smaller population centres in regional Australia are often not commercially viable for regular passenger transport air services, these communities are reliant on local airports and airstrips for air services such as charter flights, freight and mail, medical transport, private business transport, agricultural aerial services and aerial firefighting," BITRE states.
"In some communities, air services are the only way to access fresh food and transport to major cities when roads are cut off during the wet season or due to emergencies.
"Despite the social and economic benefit, regional airports are also facing great financial challenges and had an overall 6% funding gap in 2014–15 between the expenditure required to operate the airport and subsequent revenue collected from its operations.
"The funding gap was 3.4% for Regular Public Transport (RPT) airports and 45.6% for non-RPT airports (most of them are related to GA).
"Financial expenditures at regional airports are expected to rise by 38% over the next decade and this means that the expected annual budget deficit will be $17 million per year."
BITRE also studied the potential economic impacts of emerging technologies such remotely-piloted aerial systems (RPAS), electric power and advanced air mobility (AAM).
"RPAS can be considered a new and growing form of GA that is accessible to members of the public," the BITRE report concludes. "Forecasts commissioned by DITRDCA suggest that by 2040, RPAS technology could add $14.5 billion to the Australian economy.
"However, this will depend on a number of factors, including a supportive regulatory environment, consumer demand and the ability of technology and the industry to generate community support.
"[AAM] has the potential to revolutionise GA through new technologies such as battery and hydrogen powered aircraft, eVTOL aircraft and new materials and shapes.
"These new technologies are initially tested in smaller aircraft, so will be incorporated into GA use through air ambulances and small charters. The growth in demand for small charters seen post-COVID could provide a strong market for these new technologies.
The full BITRE report is on the Department of Infrastructure and Transport website.