Sydney and Brisbane airports have been criticised by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for running a monopoly, recording much higher profits margins than other airports.
IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani says Australia's regulator is not doing its job, as the two airports should not have profit margins of 40 to 50 percent – which is unheard of elsewhere in the world.
Bisignani says the IATA did not care whether airports were publicly or privately owned and agreed that a return on capital was important for the operators.
"We want our partners to make money but not to abuse a monopoly," he says.
"We have many regulators but many of them are phantoms.
"We would like to see a real regulator that assesses the position of the airline and the position of shareholder to have an acceptable rate of return and give a certain service."
By Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh
