Canadian Airports Council Response to the Competition Bureau's Airline Market Report
Today's report highlights challenges and provides a timely opportunity to assess the current state of the aviation ecosystem and chart a collaborative path forward. In the view of Canada's airports, the recommendations in the report could be more focused in areas that will actually drive growth and air service for communities. "Cabotage is not the answer to competition in a country as sparse and large as Canada. A foreign carrier is not going to service our smallest towns and thin volume routes," noted Monette Pasher, President of Canadian Airports Council. "We need to package the right policy solution for the specific problem at hand."
Canada's airports have been working with government and industry stakeholders to identify practical, policy-driven solutions to ensure that our country remains competitive, connected and prepared to meet the challenges of a shifting global environment.
Airports compete for air service globally and support a competitive marketplace. Airports of all sizes are investing in innovations and infrastructure to make their operations more predictable, more sustainable, more safe and more efficient. These airports will need to invest $28-billion over the next decade to keep up with growth and support the communities they serve, which depend on air services for economic opportunity, access to healthcare and social connectivity.
Facilitating this growth requires a supportive air policy ecosystem. Airports have put forward a set of policy recommendations for the government to consider this year, including:
Extend airport leases by 50 years so they can unlock growth on airport campuses;
Establish a Regional Air Connectivity Fund to support equitable air access in remote and northern regions;
Support airport infrastructure development through projects of national significance and trade diversification programs; and
Recapitalize the Airport Capital Assistance Program (ACAP) to $150-million annually in order to support regional, rural and northern airports with safety infrastructure.
This report does recognize that Canada's airline sector is more competitive than it has been in a decade. Major airports are seeing increased demand for direct flights and more diverse consumer needs in terms of destinations and services. This will support competition as we develop innovative infrastructure to improve productivity and meet demand.
Canada's airports appreciated the opportunity to engage in this dialogue and feed in to these topics, which are important for the connective tissue of our country. There is a clear focus on strengthening a sector that is vital to our economy, our communities and our global competitiveness.
About the Canadian Airports Council
The Canadian Airports Council (CAC), a division of Airports Council International-North America, is the voice for Canada's airports community. Its 60 members represent more than 100 airports, including all of the privately-operated National Airports System (NAS) airports and many municipal airports across Canada.
Canada's airports support 435,800 jobs, provide $32.9 billion in annual wages, generate $49.6 billion in GDP and produce $123.5 billion of annual economic output.
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