Effectiveness of information disclosure regulation for airports

The 2018 Commerce Amendment Bill strengthens the regulatory regime for major international airports in New Zealand. This page outlines the milestones in our review of the airports regime including submissions and the main Cabinet documents.

Introduction of Commerce Amendment Act — 2018

The Commerce Amendment Act came into force on 26 October 2018.

New Zealand Parliament website — Commerce Amendment Bill(external link)

Cabinet decisions — 2017

In June 2017, the previous government made decisions on our review of the airports regime. It decided to strengthen the regulatory regime for airports under Part 4 of the Commerce Act by:

  • introducing a short-form inquiry process for investigating the need to impose additional regulation on regulated airports
  • clarifying that:
    • the Commerce Commission’s summary and analysis for a regulated supplier can comment on the effectiveness of information disclosure
    • changes to the type of regulation for a regulated airport can be made through an Order in Council process. 

Related cabinet papers and regulatory impact statements

Cabinet paper

Part 4 of the Commerce Act 1986 - Strengthening the regulatory regime for major international airports [PDF, 87 KB] 

Regulatory impact statement

Amendments to strengthen the regulatory regime for major international airports [PDF, 343 KB] 

Effectiveness of the current information disclosure regime for airports — 2014 consultation

In 2014 we consulted on the effectiveness of the current information disclosure regime for major international airports and its interaction with the regulatory regime for airport price setting under the Airport Authorities Act.

Discussion paper: Effectiveness of Information Disclosure Regulation [PDF, 543 KB] 

Targeted consultation paper: Options for improvements to information disclosure regulation for specified airport services [PDF, 270 KB] 

Submissions received

The following submissions were received on the Effectivness of Information Disclosure Regulation discussion paper:

Air New Zealand (Air NZ) submission on discussion paper [PDF, 370 KB]

Air NZ Attachment 1 [PDF, 613 KB]

Air NZ Attachment 2 [PDF, 1.9 MB]

Auckland International Airport submission on discussion paper [PDF, 214 KB]

Board of Airline Representatives New Zealand (BARNZ) submission on discussion paper [PDF, 478 KB]

Christchurch International Airport Ltd submission on discussion paper [PDF, 1.6 MB]

Infratil Limited submission on discussion paper [PDF, 259 KB]

International Air Transport Association (IATA) submission on discussion paper [PDF, 78 KB]

New Zealand Airports Association (NZAA) submission on discussion paper [PDF, 845 KB] [PDF, 478 KB]

Wellington International Airport Ltd submission on discussion paper [PDF, 703 KB]

The following submissions were received on the targeted consultation paper:

Air New Zealand submission on options paper [PDF, 114 KB] 

Board of Airline Representatives NZ (BARNZ) submission on options paper [PDF, 404 KB] 

International Air Transport Association (IATA) submission on options paper [PDF, 322 KB]  

New Zealand Airports Association (NZAA) submission on options paper [PDF, 382 KB]