Ready for take-off

There’s been lots of talk about opening Canada to more foreign cargo carriers. The airports have put the money up, and shippers are all for it. But government policy has yet to catch up, and some in the industry worry that the obstacles are too large to overcome. Deborah Aarts investigates.

Canada’s cargo airports have a lot going for them.

Our airports are modern, with plenty of capacity, special handling capabilities and connections to major highway and rail routes. Almost every one has some sort of cargo project on the go. Geographically, many are situated only a few hours from the US border and closer to Europe and Asia than their US competitors.
On paper, Canada is as well-positioned as any nation to become a hub for international airfreight—and, in so doing, become a much more attractive place for shippers to do business. But the consensus among those in the industry is clear: it’s not. At least not yet.

So what is preventing Canada from capitalizing on its potential?

If you build it…
The past two decades have been a time of tremendous expansion on and around our nation’s runways.

Canadian airport authorities have spent nearly $10 billion on building infrastructure since they took control of local airports from the federal government in the early 1990s. Much of this has been directed towards air cargo facilities.

Calgary International Airport, for instance, has established the YYC Global Logistics Parks, a network of trade parks providing distribution and other value-added services. This has more than doubled the tonnage of air cargo handled at the airport. In anticipation of similar cargo traffic, Edmonton International Airport is dev-eloping Port Alberta, a multimodal gateway anchored by the AirLINKS Business Park and more than 16,000sqm of planned new dedicated cargo apron.
Halifax Stanfield International Airport is preparing to construct a multi-tenant cargo facility, complete with dedicated refrigeration space, in an effort to further accelerate cargo growth.

These examples prove the willingness of airports to build cargo capacity not just through better runways and aprons (although those do help), but also through ground handling facilities. Warehouses, DCs, deconsolidation hubs, Customs clearance houses and other value-added facilities—the prerequisites of international airfreight—are popping up at airports across the country.

“The infrastructure is there,” Jim Facette, president and CEO of the Canadian Airports Council (CAC), tells MM&D. “What we need is to a) tell the world that Canada is open to cargo business, and b) make sure we have a competitive environment here in Canada to make sure we attract cargo traffic.”