New joint venture airline chops country food cargo rates

Harry Flaherty, president of Qikiqtaaluk Corp., and Scott Bateman, president of First Air, entered into a business agreement to start a new airline last February, called Qikiqtani First Aviation Ltd.. (PHOTO/FIRST AIR)

Hunters, fishers and country food lovers in Nunavut’s Baffin region may now benefit from a new flat rate for shipping country foods on First Air and its new joint venture airline Qikiqtani First Aviation.

“We recognize the importance of cost effective access to country foods and we are proud to provide a solution that is agreeable to all parties,” said Harry Flaherty, president of Qikiqtani First Aviation, in a June 13 news release.

The new flat rate is system wide, which means Inuit and non-Inuit in the region will pay $1.50 per kilo to ship country foods to other northern communities that First Air flies to.

The new air cargo rate won’t apply to First Air’s Ottawa, Yellowknife or Winnipeg destinations.

But there are no minimum shipments under the new plan.

Under a previous arrangement, beneficiaries paid a per-kilo shipping fee that varied depending on distance covered.

“The benefit of what exists today is that the [cargo rate] is streamlined system wide,” said Jennifer Alldred, a First Air spokeswoman. “Previously, it varied based on distance, but now it’s the same price across the network.”

Beneficiaries received a 60 per cent discount under the old rates, although they had to pay NavCan and fuel surcharges.

But now everyone will end up paying less under the new $1.50 cargo rate, which includes those surcharges.

Many in the Baffin region have asked for subsidies to ship country food under the federal Nutrition North program.

However, Nutrition North can only provide a subsidy for the transportation of country foods which are processed in federally-regulated commercial plants.

There are only three of these plants in Nunavut — in Pangnirtung, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay.

Program officials say they have yet to find a way to offer a subsidy on country foods going from one northern community to the next.

This new air cargo rate is part of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association’s revised beneficiary agreement with Qikiqtani First Aviation Ltd., a joint venture between Qikiqtaaluk Corp. and Makivik Corp.-owned First Air, which also includes increased airline travel benefits for Inuit in the region.

Beneficiaries in the Qikiqtani region are also now eligible for a 60 per cent discount on Qikiqtani First Aviation and First Air flights. Elders, 55 years and up, receive a 75 per cent discount.