As we move increasingly towards globalization, I think there is a lack of conscience in the Canadian aviation community that, IMHO, opportunities exist for Canadian air operators to provide transport between second and third countries. For example, many global airlines (for example, Lufthansa) may have passengers originating in say, Dubai, travelling to New York. In other words, Germany (the home country of Lufthansa) is only a transit point where the passenger spends a few hours as he connects between airplanes. The route structure, connection times, and facilities at Frankfurt are well set up for this. Other airlines such as Emirates, Gulf Air, Cathay Pacific and KLM have done so also, where their small countries are not necessarily a final destination to provide sufficient business. In the past many of us have thought as Air Canada's international route structure as a means for people to come to Canada, or for Canadians to go elsewhere. However, as a company like Gulf Air's business practices have shown, there are many profitable opportunities like London to Bangkok (via Bahrain).
The time has never been more opportune for a similar arrangement for global carriers like Air Canada. As an increasing number of passengers become annoyed with the hassles and restrictions of transferring through the United States (or unable to get a US visa and still restricted by the cancellation of the Transfer Without Visa Program), an increasing number is looking for alternative routings. The problem is that there are not too many good ones-- they either provide poor connections or they tend to be uneconomical, or both. When you look at great circles from the tropical regions of the Americas towards Europe or Western Asia, they more often than not go over Canada and not all that far away from major hubs like Toronto or Montreal. This makes a connection through Canada (rather than the US), worthwhile, and some Air Canada schedules do provide for easy transfers (although many still do not). That remains for Air Canada, to see how they serve new destinations and uncover new opportunities so that can make the system work better for them and their shareholders as the nature of aviation business changes worldwide.
While much of the onus rests with private industry, I also believe that government must provide the proper regulatory environment for this to happen. In the case of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, I believe that current policy limits these opportunities.
Passengers of many countries require a visa to visit or, most significant to this topic, transfer through Canada. The following is from a Canadian Consulate website:
While to the lay-person this policy may seem reasonable, there are certain reasons why it is not. First of all, Immigration sections do not exist at all Canadian Consulates nor in all countries. For example, a Panamanian passenger wanting to fly on Air Canada from San Jose, Costa Rica, to connect to a flight onwards to Europe would have to send his transfer visa application to the Canadian Consulate, not in Panama City, but in Guatemala City. Because postal services, particulary in Guatemala, are very unreliable, private courier (such as DHL) must be used and fees approaching $30-50 USD each way are not uncommon. In addition there is a paperwork burden and time delay. As formerly flag carriers like Air Canada become global carriers, convenience becomes as much of a competition issue as cost.Persons in transit or those entering Canada for a maximum of 48 hours as part of a tour do not pay processing fees, provided they submit a document indicating they are travelling with a tour or indicate on the application that they are transiting Canada.
In comparison, passengers making an international transit through London Heathrow, for example, require no other visas and are not required to clear immigration or customs. For passengers with confirmed international connections a similar approach only seems reasonable to me, whilst minimizing the risks and being good for business (providing more jobs in Canada). Already, countries like Mexico and Venezuela are reassessing their new prospective goals as international hubs, while traditional hubs like Miami are losing passengers and the Spanish airline Iberia closes it's Miami hub and base to replace it with a limited number of new direct flights from Europe to Latin America and code-share agreements with local airlines.
Time for you to vote.
