Canadian Transport Minister aims to cut airport rents

Airline Industry Information, Nov 22, 2004

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Canadian Transport Minister Jean Lapierre has announced that he will present plans to cut airport rents to the country's federal cabinet within the next five weeks.

Lapierre said that he will be presenting a number of options to the cabinet but all will probably involve lowering rents that airports pay the government. According to Lapierre, the problem with lowering airport rents is that the Transport Department relies on the money to cover costs and that any cut in rent would have to be covered by the government surplus.

It is hoped any cut will trickle down to carriers and help them attract more customers with lower fares. Conservative MP Jim Gouk who sits on the transport committee said that there was plenty of room to cut the rent but due to the size of the income, some CAD235.8m in 2004, that the government is reluctant to cut it.

Lapierre said that the airport rent issue is only a small part of a wider ranging review of Canada's aviation policy, reports The Globe & Mail.

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