Ottawa International Airport, Chamber Call for Federal Relief

Airport, Chamber Call for Federal Relief 
Ottawa Business Journal, Canada

Tue, Jan 27, 2004 2:00 PM EST

 
Ottawa Airport Authority chief Paul Benoit 
The Greater Ottawa Chamber of Commerce and the Ottawa
International Airport Authority were among a number of
organizations on Tuesday to call upon the federal
government to provide relief for major airports and
travellers. 

The GOCC, the airport authority, the Canadian Chamber
of Commerce and a number of other municipal chambers
issued a statement calling for an end to the Air
Travellers' Security Charge and the special federal
excise tax on aviation fuel. They also want the
federal government to hold off on rent increases to
major airports. 

The measures are meant to help bolster air travel at a
time when major airlines continue to struggle with low
volumes due to the continued threat of terrorist acts
and new challenges such as the outbreak of the SARS
virus and the restructuring of Air Canada. The fewer
bodies and aircraft that pass through an airport, the
less revenue that airport generates. 

"At a time when the air travel industry is struggling,
the federal government has unfortunately maintained
its schedule to raise the rent at major airports
across Canada," David Glastonbury, chair of the
Transportation Task Force for the GOCC, said in a
statment. 

According to the GOCC and the airport authority, the
property rents that major airports pay to the federal
government will increase by eight per cent this year,
or almost $270 million. 

"The federal government's current position on airport
rents is overly aggressive and represents a threat to
the competitiveness of the cities whose airports are
obligated to pay federal rent," added Paul Benoit,
president of the airport authority. 

The federal government collects about $400 million a
year through the Air Travellers' Security Charge, and
$70 million to $90 million a year for the special
federal excise tax on aviation fuel. 

Last year, a report entitled "An Industry in Crisis:
Safeguarding the Viability of the Canadian Airline
Industry" issued by the House of Commons Standing
Committee on Transport recommended a number of steps
to bolster the air traffic industry. They included
relief on rent, taxes and other fees. So far the
federal government has not acted on that report. 




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