The commission's draft report into the economic regulation of airports around Australia also acknowledged the spat between Canberra airport and Qantas that played out in 2017, but found it wasn't an example of the airport exercising market power.

It said Canberra Airport and other "second-tier" airports did not have a level of market power that was of concern. However, it identified Canberra Airport as the one most likely to require closer attention in the future.

In the meantime, there's a chance it could actually get even less oversight. The commission said it did not need to look over second-tier airports like Canberra, Darwin, Gold Coast, Cairns and Hobart because they did not wield unreasonable market power.

While the report found that Canberra Airport didn't require regulatory intervention at the moment, that could change over time. Canberra was the most likely out of second-tier airports to be of concern due to its high level of business passengers. Canberra was previously part of the monitoring regime until 2012.

"The Productivity Commission would not hesitate to recommend monitoring for a non-monitored airport if it were found to have market power at a level that created a prima facie case for regulatory intervention. There is sufficient public information available for the commission to make this assessment," the report said.

Although passengers who use Canberra airport travel for business at a higher rate than any other airport in the country, the availability of other transport options for interstate travel means the airport doesn't have an unreasonable amount of power, the report said.

More than 60 per cent of overnight domestic visitors to the national capital in 2017 flew for business. Other major state capitals recorded between 40 and 50 per cent business travellers. Business travellers are generally less flexible with their travel times and also less sensitive to higher prices, which can reduce competition.

That was not a concern for the commission though, which found that bus services between Sydney and Canberra cater for more people each day than those who fly, on a route that makes up 30 per cent of the airport's traffic.

"These services provide total daily transport for up to 3000 passengers, slightly more than the 2600 passengers that travel the same route by plane, on average, each day," the report said.

Canberrans are also more likely to use their own car for interstate travel than those in any other state, and least likely to fly interstate.

Canberra Airport would be closely examined in the next five-yearly report, the commission said.