BEIJING, CHINA: An expansion to the Canada-China Air Transport Agreement was announced during the recent Canadian trade mission to China.
The newly updated agreement replaces the 2005 Air Services Agreement between the two countries.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, the new arrangement “will facilitate the movement of goods, services and people and help Canadian businesses and airlines to grow and compete by providing them with greater choices in airline services, destinations as well as lower prices”.
Some of the highlights of the agreement are:
• permission for China Southern Airlines to carry freight between Vancouver and Los Angeles together with freight between China and Canada;
• reduced restrictions on the use of flights from third country airlines (ie code-sharing);
• fewer government administrative conditions surrounding airline pricing initiatives.
The provisions contained within the expanded Air Transport Agreement are immediately available to airlines of both countries. Canada and China have also agreed to meet again in 2013 to consider further expansion of the agreement.
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