The voice of Canada’s airports.
Thursday, October 4, 2007 -
Canada-EU Open Skies talks get EU
mandate
OTTAWA (October 4, 2007) – The Canadian Airports Council today said it
looks forward to favourable talks between the EU and Canada
toward an EU-wide Open Skies regime with Canada.The CAC was responding to the news from Europe that the European Commission has been given the
official mandate to hold the talks.
“An Open Skies regime between Canada and the EU similar to the one negotiated
already between the EU and the U.S.
would be a big step forward in the promotion of tourism growth with Europe,” said CAC President and CEO Jim Facette. “As
gateways to the communities they serve, Canada’s airports have an important
stake in the outcome of these talks.”
In June of this year, the prime minister said Canada would begin EU talks this fall.
Europe is already Canada’s second biggest tourist partner after
the U.S., and tourism is a
$66.9 billion industry in Canada.More than half of Canada’s
overseas tourists hail from Europe. The EU
also is Canada’s second
biggest trading partner after the U.S., with some $70.1 billion in
imports/exports.
While Canada
has Open Skies agreements with Britain
and Ireland, an Open Skies
regime with the European Union would replace individual bilateral agreements
between Canada
and the individual members of the 27-member EU.As many of Canada’s
other bilateral agreements with individual EU members contain heavy
restrictions, an Open Aviation Agreement also would liberalize Canada’s
air regime with all of the EU’s 27 member states in one shot.
Traffic between Canada and the EU has doubled
between 2000 and 2005. According to a study launched by the European Commission,
the number of passengers between the EU and Canada would increase from eight million
now to 14 million by 2011. In addition, the EC estimates that an Open Aviation
Area would generate consumer benefits of at least $110 million through lower
fares and could create 3,700 jobs in the first year.
“Air travel is an important facilitator of
trade and tourism in our increasingly integrated and trade-reliant economy,”
said Mr. Facette.“As the Standing
Committee on International Trade said earlier this year, it is important that Canada expand
its network of air services agreements around the world.Canada
already has Open Skies with the U.S.
– Open Skies with Europe is the logical next
step.”
About
the Canadian Airports Council
The
Canadian Airports Council (CAC) is the voice for Canada’s airports.Its 47 members encompass more than 150
airports, including all of the National Airports System (NAS) airports and most
significant municipal airports in every province and territory. Together, CAC
members handle virtually all of the nation’s air cargo and international
passenger traffic and 95% of domestic passenger traffic.They create well in excess of $30 billion in
economic activity in the communities they serve.And more than 150,000 jobs are directly
associated with CAC member airports, generating a payroll of more than $8
billion annually.
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For more
information:
Daniel-Robert
Gooch,
Director of
Communications
Canadian
Airports Council
(613) 560-9302
ext 16
daniel.gooch@cacairports.ca