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BITRE | Report 115Figure 2.19 Regional airports in Victoria, by percentage of passengermovements, 20054.3%4.8%MilduraPortlandWarrnamboolOthers (less than 1% each)17.6%73.3%Source:BITRE time series estimates.Western AustraliaOverall, the number of passenger movements at regional airports in WesternAustralia was 1 million in 1984 and 1.4 million in 2005 (Figure 2.20). The averageannual growth rate was 2.8 per cent over the period 1984 to 1988, 7.7 per cent overthe period 1991 to 1995, –1.6 per cent over the period 1995 to 2000 and 2.8 percent per annum over the period 2000 to 2005 (Figure 2.22). Most regional airportsprocessing more than 10 000 passengers in Western Australia have experiencedgrowth in the past few years. In particular, rapid passenger growth was observed inBroome, Karratha and Kalgoorlie.The number of regional airports served by airlines declined gradually from 46 airportsin 1984 to 26 airports in 2005 (Figure 2.20). From a historical point of view, most regionalairports which have lost their air services share two common characteristics. Firstly,these airports were only serviced by one airline. Secondly, the number of passengermovements at these airports was usually below 10 000 passengers a year. The declinein the number of regional airports recorded in Western Australia could also beaffected by the change of Regular Public Transport (RPT) services to charter servicesat some regional airports. For instance, there was no activity recorded at ArgyleDiamonds in 2004 and 2005. In reality, Skywest Airlines has been providing charterair services to and from Argyle since 2002. With a three year charter contract with RioTinto, Skywest has added additional services to Argyle on a twice weekly basis andchanged the nature of air services from RPT to charter. According to the Review ofAir Services in Western Australia by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (2002), charterflights accounted for 220 600 Western Australian passenger movements in 2001.Table 2.8 lists the 26 regional airports in Western Australia with recorded passengermovements in 2005. A few of these airports have continued to experience reductionsin air services, particularly over the period 2001 to 2005. These airports includeCarnarvon (serving close to 20 000 passengers in 2005), Leinster and Leonora (serving36