Canadian airports suffer as travelers choose U.S. departures

[Yellow Fever]

Canadian airports suffer as travelers choose U.S. departures



By Tara Carman, Vancouver SunNovember 10, 2011 9:05 PM


The Surrey Board of Trade is calling on the federal government to make Canada’s airports more competitive.
Photograph by: Mark van Manen/Vancouver Sun, Mark van Manen/Vancouver Sun


Canadian travellers can save a significant amount by flying out of a U.S. airport, even when transportation costs are taken into account.

And that has resulted in Vancouver and Abbotsford airports losing almost a million U.S.-bound Canadian passengers to Bellingham and Seattle last year. The Surrey Board of Trade is calling on the federal government to make Canada’s airports more competitive.

Jean-Paul Laube, business development manager at the Abbotsford airport, pegs the number of passengers lost at 900,000 and chalks the decline up to two main factors: higher fees charged to passengers from Canadian airports by both the Canadian and U.S. governments, and the generally higher fares charged by Canadian carriers to U.S. destinations.

The savings Canadians can enjoy by flying from the U.S. are significant.

A Canadian couple planning a four-day trip to Las Vegas later this month could, for example, save about $170 US by flying out of Bellingham instead of Vancouver. Parking at the Bellingham airport costs $6 per day, adding $24 to the cost, assuming the couple would not have to park at YVR. For a family of four, the savings would be even greater. And for some Metro Vancouver residents living south of the Fraser, Bellingham’s airport is even closer than Vancouver’s.

“It comes down to economics for a family of four flying out of one airport versus another,” said Daniel-Robert Gooch, president of the Canadian Airports Council.

Vancouver airport officials are watching the flow of Canadian passengers to U.S. airports with growing concern. But Tony Gugliotta, YVR’s senior vice-president of marketing and business development, cautions that travelling to the U.S. to catch a flight means waiting in a border queue that can last hours, adding an element of uncertainty about getting to the airport in time for the flight.

And the Vancouver airport provides 23,000 jobs to local residents, he added.

“It’s very important in terms of the number of jobs it creates for the community and the economic benefits that come from those jobs. And so, to the extent that people travel through Vancouver, they’re supporting the local B.C. economy.”...........


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Canadian...#ixzz1dN8GDp9j

[Skymaster]

You can rent a 10 passenger limo from Vancouver to Bellingham Airport. If you have 10 people you only end up paying no more than $12-$15 each. A lot of people who are flying to Vegas do this.