Ready for take-off

The trouble with trans-shipment
The federal government has attempted to bridge the gap between bilaterals and open skies by granting more airports permission to perform trans-shipment. The trans-shipment program allows international freighters to move through approved airports enroute to third countries without bilateral agreements. In theory, this allows shippers to load and offload cargo through traditionally inaccessible air channels.

This year alone, the government has approved airports in Prince George, Vancouver, Abbotsford, Toronto, Moncton and Halifax for the program. They join airports in Mirabel, Hamilton, Windsor, Gander, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary.

“That program essentially gives airports a lot more flexibility to allow international cargo to move between Canada and third countries, so that it moves more freely and gets around some of the bilateral agreements,” says Federica Nazzani, general manager of Windsor Airport, which launched one of the first trans-shipment programs in 1993.

But some in the industry question the usefulness of trans-shipment. There is speculation that, since only some airports in Canada can do it, the program creates confusion among foreign carriers, who might prefer a country with a more uniform policy.

Wilma Clarke, director of leasing and operations at Vista Cargo Terminal Inc, one of two multi-tenant air cargo terminal buildings at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, is one of the skeptics. In the past, her company has had to turn away business from foreign carriers with viable business plans for Toronto stopovers because their countries did not have bilateral agreements with Canada. Clarke acknowledges that Pearson’s recent approval for trans-shipment might help, but thinks that without a more comprehensive national open skies regime, foreign carriers without bilaterals will tend to stay away.

“There’s a long way between full open skies and where we are today. Today, we are very, very restricted,” says Clarke. “I’m not saying full open skies would be the best place either, because you’ve got to look afte
r making sure you have enough business for your national airlines to stay intact. But we could certainly improve on where we are today by allowing the airlines that knock on the door and want to come in to do it!”

Other clouds on the horizon
Even if Canada implemented open skies tomorrow, there’s no guarantee international cargo traffic would increase. A few worrying clouds on the horizon also warrant attention.