In a speech to the National Press Club this week, Mr Joyce said airports collect 25 per cent more revenue for every passenger compared to 10 years ago despite airfares dropping, and that airports were using their monopoly position to set exorbitant airport fees that were flowing into airfares.

Regional airports also came under criticism, including passenger charge increases to fund infrastructure "that is not required" for Qantas customers.

"It probably won't come as a surprise to many, but airports are really, really expensive places," Mr Joyce said.

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"It costs more to buy a coffee. It costs more to rent a car. It costs more to get a taxi. And, as you can imagine, it costs a lot more than it should to land an aircraft.

"In fact, airport charges are the fourth highest expenses for airlines, after fuel, aircraft and wages."

Mr Joyce was joined by representatives from regional airline Rex, Air New Zealand and retailers, rental car operators and car parking businesses in making his criticisms of the Australian airport monopoly model.

Launceston Airport has undergone $65 million in development and maintenance in the past decade, including car parking, security, shopping and dining and terminal upgrades.

The airport's capital plans "underwent a prolonged and forensic level of scrutiny" by Qantas, according to Launceston Airport general manager Paul Hodgen.

He said airports had to provide competitive rates for airlines in order to attract them.

"Our business is based on passenger numbers," Mr Hodgen said.

"In this sense our business model aligns more with passengers' interests than the airline business model - we want more passengers overall, we're pretty agnostic about who brings them, so we are motivated to set our prices at a level that doesn't exclude any airline from operating here.

"Empty planes are also no good to us, as our prices, usually agreed over a five year term, are based on each passenger (not each seat that lands here).

"Compare that to an airline's business model which is to maximise the profit available from each and every passenger."

The Examiner asked travellers at Launceston Airport on Friday if they had any concerns with the way Australian airports were run, with food and drink prices and parking costs the main responses.