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YLW, I
n tough economic times, consumers tend to focus more energy and effort on saving
money. A simple Google search for the best coupon sites yields close to 58 million results. Travel sites expound the benefits of last minute deals for air tickets, hotels and restaurants. But sometimes deals are not as good as they seem.
Cheapseats.com has just completed its 2011 list of the most affordable cross border airports to fly from in North America, and the results might surprise you. Using the 20 most searched border airports through the month of August of this year, Cheapseats scoured its website to find the most popular domestic and international destinations. The top destinations include Montreal, Miami, Las Vegas and London – not a total surprise considering recent concerns about Canada’s inability to compete with US airports (in spite of the introduction of a new passenger tax of $5.50 by the Americans). YLW, however, has fared well.
Earlier this year, the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) urged Ottawa to take the brakes off Canada’s aviation system and allow the country’s travel and tourism industry to grow and create jobs. Unlike Kelowna International Airport – the largest
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YLW.KELOWNA.CA
AN ECONOMICAL PLACE TO FLY
OUT OF ON CROSS BORDER FLIGHTS BY ROBERT FINE, MANAGER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CENTRAL OKANAGAN REGIONAL DISTRICT
BELLINGHAM DETROIT BURLINGTON VERMONT KELOWNA BUFFALO
municipally-owned airport in Canada – most airports in Canada are charged rent by the Federal Government. Canada is the only country in the world that charges Crown rents to airports. For the last year that numbers were available, that equates to over $250 million a year received from the airports, which make up for this rent by charging higher passenger taxes and landing fees, resulting in higher ticket prices.
There is a significant philosophical approach, which, like many subjects, differentiates the US from Canada. In the US, most airports are owned by local or state governments and receive no federal subsidies except for small airports under separate criteria. Major airports do receive huge amounts of funding in other ways that are guaranteed by Washington. In Canada, the Federal Government looks at airports as a source of tax and rental revenue rather than an economic engine. Americans view their airports in a completely different light.
A study by the International Centre for Air Transportation at MIT highlights the importance of this economic relationship. “Air transportation provides employment in the aviation sector, and creates wider socio-economic benefits through its
potential to enable certain types of activities in the local economy…the availability of air transportation services effectively increases the scope and cycle time of economic activity. This feedback relationship results in a general correlation between the amount of air traffic and Gross Domestic Product.” A million passengers equates to an increase in GDP of one percent.
David McCaig, President and COO of ACTA, maintains that, “Ottawa has to provide the kinds of progressive programs we see in the US or travellers will increasingly turn away from Canada.”
Giovanni Bisignani, Director General and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) agrees that the Canadian government should be challenged. He said Canada has fallen from eighth to 15th
the most visited countries between 2002 and 2010, and is 106th
place among in cost
competitiveness behind Japan, the UAE, India, China and the US. A visit to Canada is $160 more expensive than a visit to the United States.
The effects of this include a staggering number of Canadians making one-way trips that depart from or arrive in the US. In the past year, almost two million Canadians flew from Buffalo, 700,000
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