Media
Open Skies Summit in Vancouver
CKDV, 24-Sep-2009 03:00
Premier Campbell will be joined by Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach at the Open Skies Summit in Vancouver. Officials from both sides of the Pacific will be looking at methods to promote economic benefits through Open Skies agreements. Shirley Bond suggests the summit could be crucial for the expanded runway at the PG airport. Bond comments.
BC is Hosting Open Skies Summit
CKDV, 24-Sep-2009 04:00
Shirley Bond maintains BC is hosting tomorrow's Open Skies Summit tomorrow to spur economic benefits and to find a way to remove air access restrictions currently in place between Canada and other nations. The Transportation minister comments.
Opportunity During Tough Economic Times
CKDV, 25-Sep-2009 08:00
Shirley Bond says the upcoming Open Skies Summit being hosted by Premier Campbell will be an opportunity during tough economic times to prepare for recession emergence. The Transportation minister believes Prince George is key among the regional airports. Bond comments.
Open Skies, Open Doors
Globe and Mail, 25-Sep-2009 05:00
As the closest link between North America and the fast-growing economies of Asia and the Pacific, and well-placed along time-saving polar routes to Europe, Western Canada sits at a unique global crossroads. To seize the opportunities that unique position creates, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan have worked with the federal government to improve highway infrastructure, border crossings, sea ports and airports.
Those improvements are allowing Western Canada to become the gateway of choice for trade and travel by sea and road. Our next step is to work seriously to ensure we are the preferred choice for air travel as well. To meet our full economic potential, we need to expand international air service so airlines can have unencumbered access to our airports.
Business, aviation and government leaders from around Canada and the world are gathering in Vancouver this week to discuss and promote "open skies" agreements, which would open our airports and build our economy. Open skies would give international airlines the ability to fly to Canadian airports without restrictions on the number of their flights, or their ability to pick up passengers and carry on to a third country. They also give Canadian airlines the same rights in return.
These agreements are negotiated between national governments, and ours deserves credit for its hard work so far. Just a few months ago, the federal government reached an open-skies agreement with South Korea.
The problem is that even though more than 80 countries have some form of bilateral agreement with Canada, such as recently improved agreements with New Zealand, South Africa and the European Union, only eight have the kind of unfettered access enjoyed by South Korea. A recent study by the International Institute of Transport and Logistics (commissioned by the B.C. government and Vancouver International Airport) found that a full open-skies agreement with Japan alone would increase passenger volume by almost 16 per cent, reduce fares by more than 10 per cent and bring in an additional $55-million for Canada's tourism industry.
In today's global economy, it simply doesn't make sense to put needless restrictions on Canadian companies, or companies that want to work in Canada. While we acknowledge the work that the federal government has done to date, we can't afford to rest. We need to aggressively pursue more agreements. When countries and companies choose the United States instead of Canada because access and logistics are easier, it can be very difficult to get that business back.
Connection to the massive economies of Asia and the Pacific can mean an increase in trade of $230-billion for Canada by 2020 and hundreds of thousands of new jobs for Western Canada alone. We've been working with Ottawa to build the infrastructure we need to support this growth - open-skies agreements with our key trading partners facilitate the movement of business people, investors and tourists, enhancing opportunities throughout Western Canada.
In British Columbia, 33 airports have been expanded and/or upgraded. Working with the federal and provincial governments, the private sector and other partners, more than $170-million was invested to upgrade Prince Rupert's port. More than $3-billion is being invested in a program to improve bridges and highways around the Lower Mainland to streamline the movement of goods and people.
Alberta has more than 80 community and regional airports, including international airports in Edmonton and Calgary. The province has invested nearly $4-million for runway improvements and upgrades to support these facilities over the past couple of years. The province also continues to invest in key transportation infrastructure, including the Edmonton and Calgary ring roads, the North-South Trade Corridor and other critical provincial routes that support and increase connectivity to these airports throughout the province.
In Saskatchewan, the government's new Transportation for Growth Strategy is aimed at improving and expanding the province's links to international markets through ports in British Columbia. Public and private investment in Regina's new Global Transportation Hub will be close to half a billion dollars. In partnership with the federal government, Saskatchewan is also completing 600 kilometres of twinning on major highways.
All of those investments are first steps. We need open-skies agreements in order to take full advantage of our opportunities.
In fewer than 150 days, the world is coming to Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The images and stories of our country will be broadcast to an audience of three billion people. Yet without open-skies agreements, 90 per cent of the countries competing in the Games will face restrictions on their ability to fly here.
Elected officials at every level, in every part of the country, are working hard to rebuild a strong and competitive economy and create jobs. Working together to push for open-skies agreements makes sense. These agreements generate jobs, economic activity, and investment. They reaffirm the West's role as the gateway to North America, and they are an enormous economic potential.
Open-skies agreements are is simply the right thing to do in today's interconnected, global, and open trade-based economy.
Gordon Campbell is Premier of British Columbia. Ed Stelmach is Premier of Alberta. Brad Wall is Premier of Saskatchewan.
$800 m Benefit for B.C.
CKNW, 25-Sep-2009 10:00
Premier Campbell has just delivered the opening remarks at the Open Skies Summit, and says if this is undertaken, it would result in a $800m benefit for BC. However, this jurisdiction is federal. Campbell comments.
Open Skies Agreements to Lower Expense for Consumers
CKNW, 25-Sep-2009 11:00
Premier Campbell says open skies agreements would help lower the expense to business and air fares to other countries for consumers. Industry heads and government officials are looking at the idea of de-regulation at today's Open Skies Summit in Vancouver. The Premier comments.
Open Skies Summit to promote Prince George Airport Runway Extension
CKDV, 25-Sep-2009 11:00
Shirley Bond feels the Open Skies Summit is a good way to promote the benefits of the Prince George airport runway extension to places outside of North American. The Transportation minister comments.
Pact to push Ottawa for More Open Skies Agreements
CKNW, 25-Sep-2009 12:00
Premier Campbell, Ed Stelmach and a rep for the Saskatchewan government have a pact to push Ottawa for more open skies agreements. The focus of the summit is deregulation, which the Premier says will create more jobs. Campbell admits there is push back from local carriers but argues market place opportunities must be expanded for everyone.
Open Skies Policy Will Benefit Kamloops
CHNL, 25-Sep-2009 12:00
John O'Fee thinks deregulation through Open Skies policy will benefit the city of Kamloops by attracting a higher number of international students to TRU who bring money into the economy. The Kamloops Airport Authority Society president comments.
John O'Fee Supporting Proposed Open Skies Policy
CHNL, 25-Sep-2009 02:00
John O'Fee is supporting a proposed open skies policy put forward by Premier Campbell and members of the Alberta and Saskatchewan governments. The proposal could help TRU attract more foreign students. The Kamloops Airport spokesperson comments.
Open Skies Agreement Has the potential of making this nation more competitive
CKNW, 25-Sep-2009 04:00
Premier Campbell, Ed Stelmach and a representative of the Saskatchewan government have signed a pact to lobby the federal government for market deregulation in commercial aviation. The so-called "open skies" agreement has the potential of making this nation more competitive. Barry Rempel of the Canadian Airports Council comments.
Deal Depends on the Cooperation of the Federal Government
CFAX, 25-Sep-2009 04:00
Lead - Premier Campbell, Ed Stelmach and a representative of the Saskatchewan government have signed an "open skies" agreement, which would allow more foreign airlines to operate in western Canada, but the deal still depends on the cooperation of the federal government. The strategy has the potential to increase economic growth, create jobs and improve transportation infrastructure.
Western Provinces Sign on to Open Skies Agreement
Vancouver Sun, pg D02, 26-Sep-2009 12:00
The B.C. government joined Alberta and Saskatchewan Friday in signing on to support for so-called Open Skies agreements, which aim to open up travel and goods movement between countries by minimizing government intervention. "I want to thank all the delegates who participated in this important summit and commend the federal government on Open Skies agreements they have reached to date, including a recent agreement with South Korea," Premier Gordon Campbell said in a release. "That one agreement alone could increase the Seoul-to-Vancouver passenger volume by over 37 per cent in the first few years." Campbell was joined by Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach and Saskatchewan Minister of Enterprise Ken Cheveldayoff in signing the agreement, which marked a one-day Open Skies summit in Vancouver. According to a report by the International Institute of Transport and Logistics, an Open Skies agreement between Canada and Japan alone could have a $55-million annual impact on Canada's tourism industry.
Premier Campbell Calls for Market Deregulation in Commercial Aviation
CHNL, 26-Sep-2009 08:00
Fred Legace is supporting Premier Campbell's calls for market deregulation in commercial aviation. The Kamloops Airport manager credits the so-called "open skies" concept for eliminating the discrimination against foreign airliner. Legace comments.
Removing Barriers to International Air Carriers Long Overdue
CHNL, 26-Sep-2009 11:00
Fred Legace thinks Premier Campbell's open skies agreement to remove barriers to international air carriers' access to Canada is long overdue. The Kamloops airport manager says the amount of regulation that prohibits air carriers from operating in the international realm is "quite striking." Legace comments.
Protecting Air Canada costs jobs, lowers revenue, raises prices
Vancouver Sun, pg A06, 28-Sep-2009 12:00
For almost 10 years, Air France has been making a simple request to Ottawa. Let it start up a daily, non-stop flight from Vancouver to Paris.
And for 10 years, the same answer came back: Forget it. That's Air Canada's route.
No surprise there. Protecting the national airline has been the federal policy for decades. Trouble is, Air Canada never got around to starting up its non-stop flight to Paris. It was just holding the air space, to keep out competitors.
Well, Air France finally had enough.
In June it took its business to Seattle, a city eager for another direct link to the European Union.
How much business did Vancouver lose? Well, the Vancouver Airport Authority estimates a daily international flight generates about 221 jobs, $10.2 million in annual wages and $17.4 million to B.C.'s GDP.
I heard about the city losing the Paris run to Seattle from Brian McDermott, a businessman with almost four million kilometres of jet travel under his belt. I met him on the Canada Line, on his way back from the airport, and he was still frustrated at not getting a direct route into Charles De Gaulle.
"Can you imagine being able to fly directly to Paris in 9-1/2 hours?" he said, adding Paris also offers connections to Africa and beyond. "I just don't know what we were thinking as a country losing a deal like that."
It might be easier to forgive if it were a one-off. Sadly, it's a pattern undermining Vancouver's future as a major global destination.
A few weeks before Air France chose Seattle, Vancouver also lost a link to Singapore. It's been reported Singapore Airlines' cost-cutting was what ended its 20-year service here. But the back story is the airline actually wanted to increase service from three days a week to a daily flight, but was refused, and left.
These defeats happen because the federal government has been slow to sign "open-skies" agreements with other countries. Mainly to protect Air Canada and partly because Transport Canada and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade are bureaucratic, Canada is a laggard in air liberalization.
Ottawa will have chances to redeem itself, though.
Behind the scenes, there are talks of more direct routes from Vancouver to the world, maybe even Paris. Air Tahiti is considering switching its Tahiti-Los Angeles-to-Paris route to Vancouver. Vancouver would provide a shorter route and passengers wouldn't need visas to enter Canada when transiting between flights and destinations.
Airlines in Taiwan, China, India and the Philippines are eyeing Vancouver, too.
Emirates, the fast-growing airline of the United Arab Emirates, also wants a daily direct flight from Vancouver to Dubai, connecting us to the Middle East.
Premier Gordon Campbell hosted the other western premiers last week to try to push air liberalization to the top of Ottawa's agenda. He predicts open competition will mean cheaper flights, more visitors and "hundreds and hundreds of millions, if not billions, for the B.C. economy."
Ottawa may finally be catching on. The feds recently signed an agreement with South Korea, which Campbell estimates will likely increase traffic by 37 per cent and decrease fares by 17 per cent in the first two or three years. International Trade Minister Stockwell Day promises more of the same.
Let's hope that's true. But it's a tough job. The Montreal-based Air Canada has a strong and entrenched lobby in Ottawa. The West, not so much.
Back on the Canada Line, Brian McDermott posed a solution: "I'm all for protecting the home team's airline. But when another airline announces it will fly to Vancouver, let's give Air Canada 12 months to offer the same service. If they don't, then let the other airline do it."
Open Skies Opens Eyes
Prince George Citizen, pg 3, 28-Sep-2009 12:00
The airports of western Canada wish to clear the air with the federal government, and Prince George MLA Shirley Bond helped to launch their concerns this past weekend.
Bond, B.C.'s Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, hosted the Open Skies Summit on Thursday and Friday, bringing together air-industry stakeholders and government officials from B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan to discuss the impediments to business success.
"By opening up air service, B.C. communities could attract visitors, students and investors, stimulating our regional economies," said Bond. "For example, an Open Skies agreement between Canada and Japan would increase passenger volume on the Tokyo-Vancouver route, having a $55-million impact annually on Canada's tourism industry."
The focus of the event was attracting cargo and passenger volumes from Asia, but the regulations and protocols involved would apply to the whole globe, said Jim Blake, chair of the Prince George Airport Authority, who attended the summit.
"It certainly opened people's eyes to all the regulations in Canada that keep us from being competitive with the rest of the world," said Blake.
He said it was refreshing to see virtual consensus among those at the summit, from all three provinces, on the obstacles in the way of airport success. The more unfettered the air industry could be, the more economic activity would happen in communities like Prince George.
Initiatives Prince George president and CEO Tim McEwan was also at the summit.
"Certainly for Prince George's economy, the airport is a critical factor in the torque we need to realize our goals. The more we get into Open Skies, the better chance we have of realizing our economic potential," he told The Citizen following the meetings. "When you look at the opportunities from China, for example, a population of more than 1 billion people, it would provide untold benefits for tourism and cargo if the Prince George Airport got approved destination status from their government."
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach were both in attendance at the summit. In addition to Bond, Blake and McEwan, Prince George was also represented by Mayor Dan Rogers, IPG's Kathy Scouten, and Prince George Airport's business development manager Todd Doherty.
"It opens the door, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done in the future," Blake said. "These changes we're talking about are very critical to us. The competition we're looking at in particular is with Fairbanks' and Anchorage's airports, both of which are heavily subsidized by governments in the United States."
Bond said the stakes for B.C. communities, and others across Canada, were too high for the status quo to continue.
"Canada desperately needs a national Open Skies Policy that proactively seeks Open Skies agreements with willing countries," she said. "The lack of progress on this priority is hurting every province in Canada, and costs our economy hundreds of millions in lost opportunities and thousands of jobs."
AIRPORT PLANS
CFIS, 28-Sep-2009 09:07
John Gibson plans to expand passenger traffic and increase the amount of tech cargo stopping at the Prince George airport. However, the airport CEO admits the opportunity for more international aircraft stopping in Prince George is about 12 -18 months away. Meisner believes Anchorage is the key to getting PG's foot in the door but the Americans are not making it easy. Jim Blake commends Gibson for proposing that the airport offer marketing for some of the carriers they are courting in order to increase the value of making Prince George a stop. The Open Skies Summit is mentioned. The chairman of the Prince George Airport Authority says an open skies agreement would contribute more to cargo traffic than passenger traffic. Becky Madore explains the changes to WestJet vacations in Prince George now that Transat Air has failed to renew its agreement with the airline.
Airport hoping for Open Skies
Prince George Citizen, pg 3, 29-Sep-2009 12:00
Financing is in place for a connector road, the runway extension and refuelling apron have been completed and land has been designated for a logistics park.
What more could the Prince George Airport need to reach its full potential as a cargo-handling facility? An Open Skies agreement between Canada and China would be handy. An Open Skies agreement, usually reached on a nation-to-nation basis, lift most restrictions on the number of flights that airlines can fly between two countries and the number of passengers they can pick up and take to third countries.
Without one, the airport could still provide refuelling services, aviation services manager Todd Doherty said Friday. "But as we develop, we'd like to see obviously Open Skies for cargo and passengers."
There are currently 88 bilateral air service agreements in Canada, but only eight classify as Open Skies for passenger and 33 for cargo, none of them with China, according to Doherty, although he added that the topic is on the table in negotiations between the two countries.
The airport is targeting smaller carriers based in the Pearl River Delta who may want to consider Prince George as an alternative to Anchorage as a stopover on the Great Circle route.
An Open Skies agreement recently reached with South Korea could increase the Seoul-to-Vancouver passenger volume by more than 37 per cent in the first few years, according to the provincial government. "It means open doors," Doherty said. "You could put up all the signs that say you're open for business but if you still have barriers that are inhibiting business or prohibiting business you are not truly open for business.
The federal and provincial governments have announced they each will contribute $7.5 million to the $28-million Boundary Road connector project.
It will provide 6.6-kilometre route along the backside of the airprot from airport hill on Highway 16 East to Highway 97 South before Sintich Road and provide the "backbone for the establishment of the airport logistics park."
The city and logistics park developers will split the remaining $13 million.
To Cargo, or Not to Cargo
Prince George Citizen, pg 6, 30-Sep-2009 12:00
As wide as a cruise ship and capable of carrying 26 1/2 Cadillac Escalades to Vancouver and back (and not as the crow flies) about 11 1/2 times without refuelling, the Boeing 777 Freighter would make an impressive sight in the skies of Prince George.
Last Friday, the U.S. logistical giant FedEx Express took delivery of its first of the massive cargo planes, according to Air Cargo News, hoping the new roughly $255 million US bird would cut transit times from its Memphis hub to Asia between one to two hours and slash fuel costs in comparison to its older MD-11s. FedEx waited three years for its first 777F, after ending a dalliance with Europe's Airbus, hopes to have 15 in its fleet by 2014 and has an order for an additional 15 to come in by 2019.
A flight to Prince George may be some time coming.
It's an event that underlines the bizarre paradox of airlines and their industry: planes may have shrunk distances into hours and minutes but their maintenance, purchase and management can be a long, slow, frustrating process. Their politics -- weighed down with issues of patriotism, recalcitrant, wounded corporations, international law and short-sighted statesmen -- could prove even more arduous and the Prince George Airport is now one of poor saps stuck prodding politicians into pushing tin.
A day before FedEx's 777F delivery, Premier Gordon Campbell joined Alberta's Ed Stelmach and Saskatchewan's Brad Wall in an op-ed piece in the Globe and Mail calling for more so-called "Open Skies" agreements. One would think they're a no-brainer -- they allow airlines to fly into a country without restrictions on the number of flights or whether they pick up passengers. But they're the exception rather than the rule -- of the 88 countries Canada has air agreements with, only eight, including the recent addition of South Korea, have an open-skies-type deal for passengers and only 33 include cargo.
The rest live under more restrictive Air Service Agreements (ASAs) and the reason the skies are not freer is simple -- according to a provincial government report, "Transport Canada officials in charge of bilateral ASAs are not ready to accept Open Skies if there is a 'risk' for the Canadian 'flag' carrier to lose traffic to foreign carriers." Simply put, federal air transport policy, under successive governments, has been beholden to Air Canada and its union -- if it was bad for them, it was bad for Canada's skies -- and the argument that's normally used is the open-skies deals must preserve a "level playing field" that enables the perennially bankrupt airline to compete.
That's a problem for B.C. -- which currently has no Open Skies agreement with China, for instance -- and a problem for Prince George, which is hoping to turn recent public investments in a runway extension, refuelling apron and a recently-announced connector road into a role as an international transport hub. Great idea -- but with the U.S. at the forefront of the Open Skies movement, the federal government needs to do some scrambling to ensure onerous regulations don't leave Prince George's modest foray into the field at a disadvantage.
It will not be easy -- while three Western premiers have combined their voice to call for a more aggressive Open Skies stance from Ottawa, they'll be going against Air Canada and its constant threat of insolvency. Plus, countries on the other side of the table must deal with their pride and self-interest in their air carriers, which do give nations a little prestige -- China recently balked at allowing South Korea into its air market, for fear its domestic firms would get out-hustled.
The idea may be to start small and unthreatening. Todd Doherty of the Prince George Airport said he's targeting carriers that serve China's Pearl River Delta. The province's report proposes making B.C. an exception, with a regional Open Skies deal with selected Asian countries perhaps initially tied to the 2010 Olympics.
Modesty, however, doesn't get Boeing's giant planes into the sky and the worry is, without significant amounts of political will, capital, and elbow grease at the federal level, the Open Skies effort will be stuck in a holding pattern for years. Such a scenario would be unacceptable -- and it's something to keep in mind as a federal election issue in this region.
Nation's skies not so open after all
The Daily News (Kamloops), pg A07, 05-Oct-2009 12:00
If God had really intended men to fly, He'd make it easier to get to the airport.
-- George Winters
Well, it is actually easier to get to the Vancouver Airport these days. As I was down for a quick, overnight stay a few days ago, I decided to give the new Skytrain Canada Line a try.
If you are heading to downtown Vancouver, this service will take you to and from the airport in 22 minutes at about one-tenth the cost of a taxi.
The trains run on five-minute intervals and the only real knock on them is that you don't see much along the (mostly) underground route. Having inched along in Granville Street traffic many times, I'll forego the view for the efficient underground route any day.
I was attending an Open Skies Summit in Vancouver, which presented an overview of Canada's commercial aviation policy as it relates to foreign air carriers. It turns out that our skies are not quite as open as I had first thought.
A case in point is Singapore Airlines.
At one point, Vancouver had direct flights to Singapore three times per week. This was not Singapore Airlines' first choice. They wanted to offer daily service. However, the government of Canada felt that three times a week was sufficient to service the marketplace for flights to Singapore.
I'm sure some impressively credentialed expert produced a report justifying the government's position and thrice weekly became the rule. Further, the only Canadian point of entry for this airline would be Vancouver. If Singapore Airlines wanted to operate a route to, say, Calgary or Toronto, that simply would not be allowed.
Experience shows that governments of all political stripes are notoriously poor predictors of economic activity. The rational approach to an air route would be to let the air carrier decide frequencies for itself.
As Singapore is a South Asian hub, for all we know there is a market for twice-a-day service.
Most airlines prefer to operate at least a daily service. This allows them to better plan their routes, optimize their staffing and make the best use of their equipment. From the perspective of a traveller, particularly a business traveller, daily service means that you can arrive and depart from a given destination with some regularity. By artificially limiting the number of flights per week, Canada effectively made it too expensive and inconvenient for Singapore Airlines to operate here.
The Canadian approach has been one of bilateral treaties with individual nations or organizations such as the European Union. Each treaty has unique components, not all of which are public. Generally speaking, the access points to Canada and flight frequencies are limited.
The American approach has been markedly different. The Americans use a standard template for all open-skies agreements and the process is generally open. What's more, our southern neighbours do not dictate where airlines can enter their country. This has resulted in American air hubs in some unlikely places. Cincinnati, Ohio, for example, has become something of an air hub for some European routes.
Were Canada to follow the American template and negotiate an open-skies arrangement with Singapore, any Canadian airline would have rights to land there at whatever frequency the market would bear.
Likewise, Singapore Airlines could fly from there to any Canadian destination of its choosing at whatever frequency it felt the market would bear. Singapore is just one example of many airlines that have been similarly restricted.
As a spoke in the Vancouver and Calgary hubs, Kamloops will ultimately benefit from increased traffic at these airports. More direct flights to Vancouver creates more business and tourism opportunities locally.
One of the studies presented at this conference showed that whenever a large international jet lands in a city, approximately 780 hours of local employment are created.
When Vancouver ended up losing its direct link to Singapore, the airline opted for a daily flight to Seattle.
This daily flight generates the equivalent of 150 local jobs for the Seattle economy that could have come to British Columbia. Airports have long been recognized as generators of economic activity. One can debate if airport traffic follows the economy or vice versa. What is clear is that effective air links are vital to the viability and growth of a community.
Premier Gordon Campbell and his counterpart in Alberta, Ed Stelmach along with a representative of the Saskatchewan premier were on hand at this conference to sign a joint declaration.
They have agreed to coordinate efforts and work together towards opening up air travel between Western Canada and the world. Clearly, this is the global trend, so Canada would be well advised to get in step with other developed nations.
It's tough to open British Columbia to the world if you can't get here from there.
John O'Fee is a four-term member of Kamloops City council. He can be reached at jofee@kamloops.ca.