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During the summit, participants agreed to finalise a contract change proposal and an integrated master schedule of the project by early 2024.
Airservices, which decreased its prices in 2019, is looking to raise them to cover increased costs. The ATC body is planning four price increases between April 2024 and January 2026, which would between them raise the weighted average prices for these services by 19 per cent in nominal terms.
Speaking to reporters in Melbourne, Harfield said that while in a perfect world Airservices would need 800 qualified air traffic controllers, the fact that it currently has around 900 does not necessarily mean the entire system is covered.
An initial cohort of six Airservices Australia trainees will be sent to Christchurch following 10 weeks of online training with Airways’ AKO virtual academy. This represents the beginning of a new contract between the two ATC organisations, with further cohorts expected to be sent in future.
The firm, which plans to launch hundreds of satellites starting in 2025 to provide space-based VHF communications and surveillance for air traffic management, has received money from investors including Foresight Australia, Canada’s OPTrust, and Australian deep tech fund Main Sequence.
Speaking to Murray Jones on 4CA Cairns on Tuesday, Minister King mentioned the industry’s ongoing skills shortage, saying airlines had let staff go and many people had not returned to aviation, and added that this was also a problem at Airservices.
