Kanadanin "Open Sky" programi

Travellers' groups cheer 'open skies' plan
Nov. 27, 2006. 04:48 PM Toronto Star
ROMINA MAURINO
CANADIAN PRESS
Airline and travellers' groups are cheering a government plan to open up Canada's skies to more competition, saying open-skies agreements with more countries will allow them to reach new markets and reduce ticket prices for consumers.
"Under the policy, Canada will pursue open agreements ... when it is in Canada's overall interest and we will pursue more liberalized agreements on a reciprocal basis where obstacles exist to a true open-skies agreement," Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon said Monday at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.
Air Canada said it was happy with the "Blue Sky" plan — in particular the minister's emphasis on the need for reciprocal benefits.
"The key here isn't so much the principle of open skies but what the minister said, which was that there had to be reciprocal benefit," said Duncan Dee, Air Canada's senior vice-president of corporate affairs.
"It basically means that we would pursue open skies agreements with those countries that could provide the same opportunities to Canadian carriers — countries like Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Germany, France. These are major trading partners, which would allow us to benefit equally as the carriers from those countries."
Currently, Canada only has two open-skies agreements, with the United States and Britain, while the U.S. has 77 open-skies agreements, Australia three, Chile seven, New Zealand 10 and Singapore nine. The European Union has a complete open-skies regime.
Open skies agreements eliminate rules that dictate such things as how many air carriers are allowed from each market, what destinations they may serve, and how many times they may fly.
Air Canada has "benefited tremendously," from the current agreements, Dee said, adding that on the Canada-U.S. market, the Montreal-based airline is "the largest single carrier operating between both countries and we see a lot of opportunities there."
The move could also mean better fares and more choice for Canadian travellers as Ottawa wants the price, quality, frequency and range of air services to be determined by market forces.
"It's all about competition: when you have more competition you have more choice; it's always good for the consumer," commented Christiane Theberge of the Alliance of Canadian Travel Associations.
"Let's hope that they will sign agreements according to that policy, because we haven't seen that many (open sky) agreements signed so far."
The Air Transport Association of Canada also welcomed the announcement, calling it "an important step in the right direction, particularly insofar as the Minister of Transport has recognized the need to address government fees and charges, which affect the competitiveness of Canada's air carriers," CEO, Sam Barone.
He also stressed the need to reduce airport rents, fuel taxes and passenger security charges, which, it says, place Canadian carriers at a disadvantage.
The Canadian Airports Council, for its part, called on the government to "aggressively pursue" new Open Skies agreements, since air traffic between Canada and the U.S. nearly doubled since the first liberalization in 1995.
"With a legacy of restrictive agreements in place with some of our most important markets for tourism and trade, the government now must aggressively pursue Open Skies agreements to increase choice and competition in international air service," stated Airports council CEO Jim Facette.
"Canadian travellers, shippers and the communities our members serve will benefit most from increased choice and improved tourism and trade links."
The government came up with the new policy after consulting major stakeholders in the airline industry.
The Conservatives signed the U.K. agreement within a few months of getting into office, and had said they wanted to start with negotiations with other countries that would allow their airlines to fly in and out of Canada as often and as much as they want — as long as Canadian airlines get the same access to those foreign markets.
The new policy doesn't affect domestic air service between two Canadian cities, which belong to Canadian air carriers only.
On the Toronto stock market Monday, Air Canada (TSX: AC.B) stock fell 7.3 per cent, or $1.41, to $17.91, while parent company ACE Aviation Holdings (TSX: ACE.A) fell 20 cents to $37.20.
WestJet Airlines Ltd. (TSX: WJA) traded at $13.76, down 12 cents.