The voice of Canada’s airports.
Thursday, June 7, 2007 -
Canada’s Airports Commend Government on European Free
Trade Progress
CAC welcomes multilateral approach to
free trade
OTTAWA (June 7, 2007) – The Canadian
Airports Council today commended the federal government for reaching a new
trade deal with the European Free Trade Association countries of Iceland,
Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, welcoming the government’s renewed
multilateral approach to trade talks that also includes upcoming air service
talks with the EU.
“In a highly integrated world economy,
Canada’s progress on free trade agreements, including important liberalization
in air service agreements, means good news for Canada through increased trade
of goods and tourists,” said CAC President and CEO Jim Facette.“Over the coming months, Canada’s
airports look forward to continued multilateral trade liberalization, including
more Open Skies deals such as the one being pursued with the EU.”
The new trade agreement with EFTA and news
of upcoming free trade talks with Colombia,
Peru and the Dominican Republic
were part of a speech delivered by International Trade Minister David Emerson
today, in which he also highlighted the importance of air service agreements.Earlier this week, Prime Minister Stephen
Harper announced from Europe that air
liberalization talks with the EU will begin this fall.
The EU is Canada’s
second biggest trading partner after the U.S., with some $70.1 billion in
imports/exports.Traffic between Canada and the EU has doubled between 2000 and
2005 and the EU is Canada’s
second largest source of tourists.More
than half of Canada’s
overseas tourists hail from Europe.
“An important partner for both trade and
tourism, Europe is a great example of how
trade and air policy truly are linked with important potential benefits to be
realized for both the passenger and cargo air sectors through trade and air
service liberalization” said Mr. Facette.“Canada’s
airports support the government’s continued liberalization of our air regimes
with other countries – either in tandem with overall trade liberalization talks
or as stand-alone initiatives.”
In addition to the EU, the CAC has
encouraged the federal government to include a multi-lateral air service
approach to other regions of the world, such as Latin
America.
About
the Canadian Airports Council
The Canadian Airports Council (CAC) is the voice for Canada’s airports.Its 44 members represent 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.