Five million Canadians drive south for cheap flights: report

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Are you willing to sit through a long border line-up to save a few bucks on a flight?

A new report from the Conference Board of Canada suggests if you are, there are five million other Canadians out there just like you.

“We have always known that some people will find it cheaper, if not faster, to drive across the border and take a flight to, say, an American destination in the south from an American airport,” says David Stewart-Patterson, Director of Public Policy.

“It is significantly cheaper and that’s really what is driving behaviour,” he tells us.

The research shows flights out of the US are about 30 per cent cheaper than flights out of Canada.

“Bellingham Airport really jumped out because Bellingham’s traffic has almost tripled in the last five years. Seattle has grown by about eight per cent and Vancouver has dropped, so this cross-border movement is clearly having an impact,” explains Stewart-Patterson.

“The assumption has always been the big reason is Canadian taxes and fees and that’s a part of the answer, but it’s a long way from being the whole answer. A lot of it has to do with US airlines have lower wage rates and better productivity,” he adds.

Researchers say about 40 per cent of the cost of a Canadian airline ticket goes to fees and taxes.

“If we dealt with those policies, we estimate we could bring about two million passengers a year back to Canadian airports,” Stewart-Patterson suggests. “To do that, we had have to look at cutting some of those fees or changing the ways we charge fees. Cuts in Canadian fees and taxes will not be effective, however, unless airports and airlines cooperate in passing through the benefits to passengers.”

The research focuses on flights out of Vancouver International Airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport, and Montreal-Trudeau International Airport.

Click here to read the full report.

Transport Canada’s statement to News1130:

The department continues to engage industry and stakeholders regarding the future of the aviation industry on an ongoing basis.

Our Government supports a strong and competitive Canadian air industry. Canada’s air industry is based on the user-pay principle, which ensures that taxpayers do not subsidize air travel. In the United States, key elements of the aviation system are government owned and operated. In Canada, those who fly pay for the system.

Our government will continue to keep taxes and fees as low as possible, while ensuring the ongoing sustainability of our airports.

Airport authorities which manage our largest airports are constituted as not-for-profit corporations which balance a high level of consumer service while keeping costs low.

Airport rent accounts for less than 1 percent of the total ticket price for air travel, and is not likely to be a key factor in a traveler’s decision to choose a U.S. airport over a Canadian airport.

Government can’t stop Canadians from flocking south: expert

Travel industry experts don’t believe it can be done the Federal Finance Minister can keep Canadians from going across the border to catch flights in places like Bellingham.

Brad Davies of Virtually There Travel says it’s the Transportation Minister that has all the power in this, and Jim Flaherty needs to speak with him to make the change.

“If you really want to level out the playing field, you could have a word with the Transport Minister and there would be a level playing field,” Davies says. “If they really wanted to make a dent in the five million Canadians travelling south of the border, they could do it tomorrow.”

Davies says it won’t happen in his lifetime and that all this government talk is just optics.

He believes Canadian airlines are trying, but they are simply at a competitive disadvantage, adding it’s a great day to shop around for travel deals in the Lower Mainland — you’ve got a lot of options.

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