“Cheap American flights threaten Canadian airport business”
“The promise of cheaper flights is driving many Canadians across the border to U.S. airports — and costing millions in lost revenue in Canada. The trend is disconcerting to Canada’s aviation industry, which is calling on the federal government to do something to lure back those travellers.
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Manitoba is one of the provinces seeing the exodus of travellers. Close to half the cars in the parking lot at the Grand Forks International Airport have Manitoba licence plates these days.
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The reason for the vast price differences in the U.S. and Canada has much to do with geography, said Dawson [Senator Dennis Dawson, chairman of the Senate transport and communications committee].
“We are a smaller market dispersed on a bigger country. That is not something easy to deal with but in addition to that, the government has imposed rents on airports,” he said.
“The government is making money out of security taxes for CATSA [Canadian Air Transport Security Authority]. They shouldn’t be making money out of security taxes. All of those are costs the government can control.”
A new federal strategy is needed so Canada can better compete with American airlines and airports, Dawson said, and that starts with addressing the rents airports pay, as well as other fees and charges added onto airline tickets.
“They can lower the rates of rents. They should. They should abolish them completely but, at best let’s ask them to lower them,” he said.”
Full article here
American airports are also largely subsidized so costs are less. However, Canadian airports also screw the airlines and the consumer with their high fees and need to better allocate their resources to be more competitive.
The only thing surprising here is that it is being seen as a new trend, not a decades long pattern which continues today.
Totally true. the flights are as much as 50% cheaper departing from the USA. The smart Canadians have figured this one out.
Blame the Canadian Government for having 95 percent of the population of Canada within 2 hours by car of the U.S. Everyone needs to move up in the North woods.
My “witchy” side is coming out. LOL
Must agree with Wandering A… This is not new news, just getting a bit more play in recent months. I can easily remember a time – early 70s – when TransAtlantic tickets were far cheaper if purchased in Europe. Then, the smart flyer who needed to make frequent crossings did whatever was necessary to to purchase most tickets in Europe, even on US carriers. (And yes, that was in the day when US carriers’ hard and soft products led the market. These days, sadly, the best TransAtlantic products, hard and soft, are operated by non-US carriers. This note would not be complete without another jab at the late Alfred Kahn, the father of US airline deregulation. In retrospect, dear Al made one of the most expensive screw ups in US history. Those of us old enough to remember the Golden Age of flying have Al Kahn to thank for the demise or BKYs of countless airlines as well as allowing those half-naked folks (tank tops and flip flops? Please!) and the unwashed to grace today’s airplanes. The only effective way to avoid *most* of that crap today is by buying a Business Class or higher ticket. Even then… Thanks, Al!