REGIONAL AND REMOTE AIR ACCESS FOR BRITISH COLUMBIANS (2024)

Issue

Air access for British Columbians in rural and remote regions is a necessity, yet it has always been a challenge. Regional airlines are disadvantaged and struggle to economically provide routes and access to rural and remote areas while maintaining a positive balance sheet.

Background

Airlines have often written off the losses incurred in providing service to rural areas in order to transfer passengers into other domestic and international hubs, or the increased costs have been borne primarily by the business traveller. The pandemic increased and illuminated this issue as many airlines had to curtail services, and some rural areas lost their only air service.

Local rural and remote communities have done what they can to relieve the burden on local aviation operators; in some cases, they have lowered or suspended landing and lease fees. Rural and remote communities have the added disadvantage of maintaining airport infrastructure despite having fewer regional or charter air services to help offset costs. Although, government programs such as the Airport Capital Assistance Program (ACAP) and the Airport Critical Infrastructure Program (ACIP) help.

While restrictions were necessary during the pandemic, they obviously placed a significant burden on businesses and airlines. As we move forward, regional carriers need help to survive and continue providing service to remote communities. The pandemic highlighted the inequities faced in rural communities and by regional airlines. Service to remote communities is essential and needs to be sustainable.

The loss of scheduled service to a rural/remote community is more than just the inconvenience of not having leisure travel options; it is the loss of medical services, including visits to specialists and specialized care such as surgeries, chemotherapy, and diagnostic testing; it is the inability to get time-sensitive cargo such as laboratory testing out; it is the loss of essential business travel such as health professionals who fly in to serve the community, or the business traveller looking to promote or expand.

Canada’s two main airlines (Westjet and Air Canada) share nearly two-thirds of the domestic market; however, they provide service primarily in the busiest corridors while service to smaller, less central communities continues to decline, and those regional carriers still operating have higher costs, resulting in higher fares. Air service to rural and remote communities across Canada that only have one scheduled air service option must be considered an essential service, and we are calling on the government to put programs in place to support our communities and work with us to ensure regional airlines remain viable.

In February of 2023, after undertaking a study on ways to reduce red tape and costs for Canadian airports in order to make air travel more affordable and accessible, the House of Commons published Enhancing the Efficient, Affordable Operation of Canada’s Airports - Report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.[1] The following are the recommendations regarding rural communities, highlighting recommendation #4, which supports the necessity of affordable, equitable air transportation in rural regions.

• Recommendation 3 – Supporting rural airports: That the Government of Canada prioritize supporting rural airports by using repurposed airport rents to help smaller airports absorb costs associated with regulatory changes.
• Recommendation 4 – Affordable air travel for rural Canada: That the Government of Canada develop policies to encourage affordable, equitable air transportation in rural regions that lack competition between carriers.
• Recommendation 5 – Interline agreements: That the Government of Canada move towards encouraging interline agreements between all Canadian air carriers to give regional customers better access to larger and international carriers, and ensure affordability and reliability of regional airports.

Australia, with a service area incorporating rural and remote regions, has implemented a Regional Aviation Access Programme (RAAP).[2] This program provides “assistance to the owners of regional airports across Australia to undertake essential works, promoting aviation safety and access for communities through the Regional Airports Program.” The RAAP guidelines[3] state, “The Australian Government is committed to ensuring that Australia’s regional and remote communities have reasonable access to air services to major cities and other key centres.” Funds have been tied to maintaining/providing regional air connectivity over a period of time, and the carrier has ensured community fares with a set dollar figure per passenger calculated to support minimum operating costs. The efforts in Australia have poised their regional airlines for recovery and provided increased revenue to both the airline and the country.

It is imperative that we improve and stabilize regional airlines and support passengers using regional airports; improve the delivery of essential goods and services, such as food supplies, health care, and passenger air services; and improve the connectivity of rural regions to domestic and global market opportunities.

THE CHAMBER RECOMMENDS

That the Provincial Government:

1. Treat air service to remote & rural communities as an integrated public and private service.
2. Work with the Government of Canada to implement the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.
3. Review the Australian and other models of regional air service to remote communities and work with federal counterparts engaging regional airlines and stakeholders, including businesses and Indigenous & non-Indigenous communities, to build a BC model that works.