"Ottawa airport cuts fees to help ease 'airline crisis'"

Monday, June 23, 2008

Ottawa airport cuts fees to help ease 'airline crisis'
Canwest News Service


OTTAWA - Terminal fees at Ottawa International Airport will be cut five per
cent on July 1, the airport authority said Monday.

The authority said the airline industry was in crisis following the
skyrocketing cost of fuel and the weakened economies in Canada and the
United States. 

"This is not just an airline crisis, but one that impacts the entire
industry and ultimately our communities," said Paul Benoit, CEO of the
airport authority. "We recognize the importance of doing our part and will
be looking at ways to further reduce our fees over the next several months."

Canada's two largest airlines said that they were grateful for the fee cut.

"The Ottawa airport authority has clearly taken a leadership position in
recognizing a need to drive costs out of the system in light of record fuel
prices," said Ken McKenzie, executive vice-president, operations for
WestJet.  ". . We encourage these (other) airports to follow Ottawa to do
their part to ensure that air travel remains affordable for all Canadians."

Air Canada, which last week announced 2,000 job cuts, was also relieved at
the fee cut.

"Air Canada salutes the Ottawa International Airport Authority and its
president and CEO . . . for demonstrating leadership and foresight by
voluntarily reducing its fees," said Duncan Dee, chief administrative
officer at Air Canada. 

"Hopefully, today's very welcome announcement will lead other industry
participants, including the federal and provincial governments, to recognize
the severity of the situation facing our industry and emulate the
Authority's decisive action through similar measures."

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