Air travellers face possible jump in fares

MICHAELA RODRIGUE
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — Air travellers could see a jump in plane ticket prices if a proposed regulation goes through, says the Northern Air Transport Association.

A proposed Transport Canada regulation would require that hundreds of Canada’s smaller airports acquire on-site emergency rescue services.

The Nunavut government has already estimated that it will cost about $13 million to meet the requirement.

But Bob Davies, the president of the Northern Air Transport Association, said even if the Nunavut government foots the bill, the extra cost will eventually be passed down to the consumer.

“The air carriers will be charged a user fee that will then be passed onto the passenger,” Davies said.

The association doesn’t know how much of a price hike that could mean for air travellers, but Davies said passengers already believe air travel in the North is too expensive.

The association, its air carrier members, and transportation ministers from across Canada are now lobbying Transport Canada to scrap the proposed regulation.

The association says that the new regulation would not significantly increase safety standards because airplanes are already prepared to evacuate passengers from an aircraft within 90 seconds.

The new regulation would require airports to have fire crews close enough to respond to an emergency within 10 minutes.

That would mean the Nunavut government would have to beef up safety measures in each of Nunavut’s 26 airports.

Transport Canada has scheduled a meeting for later this month for feedback from the industry. A final decision on the regulation isn’t expected for several months.