The Airport Link Company (AirportLink Pty Ltd) is the operator of the
Green Square,
Mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
,
Domestic Airport and
International Airport
An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
railway stations on the
Airport Link tunnel in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia. The line is serviced by
T8 Airport & South Line services of the
Sydney Trains network.
The tunnel and the Airport Link stations opened on 21 May 2000. The stations have seating which is a different design to the rest of the network-wide standard, with Street Furniture supplying the "Park Slim Bench"
In 2000, the Airport Link Company was placed in receivership after defaulting on its finance arrangements, with patronage figures only one quarter of forecasted figures.
In March 2011, it was announced that the
Government of New South Wales
The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...
would cover the cost of the station access fee at Green Square and Mascot stations, meaning that passengers no longer need to pay a surcharge to access these stations. To compensate Airport Link Company, the government now pays the company a 'shadow' station usage fee at a fixed contracted rate of approximately $2.08 per entry and exit of these stations. A fee remains in place for Domestic and International stations. Patronage on the link had been growing at 20% per year, but between March and June 2011 patronage increased by 70% as a result of the reduced fares.
In 2013,
Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) bought 49.9% of Airport Link Company from
Hastings Funds Management
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west at ...
-managed
Westpac
Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales.
Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, it ...
Essential Services Trust, adding to the stake it already owned. As a result, USS took control of the Airport Link Company.
Although often perceived as all going to the Airport Link Company, under the revenue sharing agreement, from August 2014 85% of revenues raised by the access fee go to the State Government. From 2015 to 2018, the Government of New South Wales received the total net revenue amount of $197.6 million from the station access fee.
References
External links
Airport Link website
{{Westpac
Airport Link, Sydney
Railway companies of New South Wales
Westpac
Railway companies established in 1995
Australian companies established in 1995
Companies based in Sydney