The voice of Canada’s airports.
Monday, June 4, 2007 -
Canada’s Airports Applaud EU Air Talks Progress
Canada-EU Open Aviation Area would be
good for Canadian trade and tourism
OTTAWA (June 4, 2007) – The Canadian
Airports Council today applauded the federal government’s progress with
European Union on talks as early as this fall on a new air regime across the
North Atlantic.Reforms to the air
regime with Canada’s second
biggest trade and tourism partner – ideally an Open Skies type Open Aviation
Area – will be good for Canada,
the group says.
“As the federal government prepares to hear
from industry on coming talks with the European Union this fall, Canada’s
airports say to the government what we’ve been saying for quite some time.Open Skies with Europe is good for Canada,” said
CAC President and CEO Jim Facette,
who was commenting on a joint Canada-EU statement issued from the Canada-European
Union Summit earlier today.
Over the coming months, Canada’s airports will engage with
the government as it consults industry on the upcoming talks.Airports also will seek representation at the
talks themselves.
“Canada’s airports have a unique
responsibility to the communities they serve and pledge to actively engage with
the government on its EU plans over the coming months and in the talks that
follow,” said Mr. Facette.
Airports have participated in air service
talks before.In 2005, airport
representatives played a critical role in the quick negotiation of an Open
Skies agreement with the United
States.
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.
While Canada
recently signed an Open Skies agreement with Ireland,
an Open Aviation Agreement with the European Union actually 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.
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.
“The federal government has heard the call
of Canada’s
airports to take a new approach to international air policy,” said Mr.
Facette.“It is encouraging that the
prime minister and his EU counterparts have acknowledged the importance of
modernising our air links by setting an ambitious timetable for talks.Canada’s airports are committed to
help make these talks a success.”
The CAC also commended the government’s
progress on a bilateral European Community-Canada Air Safety Agreement, also
mentioned in the joint statement.
About
the Canadian Airports Council
The Canadian Airports Council (CAC) is the voice for Canada’s airports.Its 45 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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