Liberals’ drive to privatize Canadian airports lifts off
Airports, including Pearson, are now run by not-for-profit airport authorities. But airlines, airport operators and some municipalities are warning any sell-off will drive up costs, and those will get passed on.
[...]
The potential benefit for Ottawa is huge. One study done by the Vancouver airport authority estimated that the federal government could reap between $8.7 billion and $40.1 billion by selling off the country’s eight largest airports, including
Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
[...]
Opinions are divided in the aviation sector. Some organizations, like the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which operates Pearson airport, have taken a wait-and-see attitude while cautioning that any change to ownership requires careful consideration.
But others aren’t sold on the idea. Vancouver airport has teamed with those in Ottawa and Calgary on a public information campaign to oppose privatization.
“We think it’s a bad idea,” Craig Richmond, the chief executive officer of the Vancouver Airport Authority, told the Star.
“This idea of a one-time payment, that’s like selling the family jewels and then regretting it forever,” he said in an interview.
The Vancouver authority laid out its objections to Transport Canada, including the submission of a detailed 52-page analysis of privatization and its impact on costs.
It estimates that the federal government would reap between $2.9 billion and $6.2 billion from the sale of Vancouver airport alone.
But the authority concludes that privatization would add “hundreds of millions of extra costs” that would have to be recovered through cost-cutting, increased fees and reduced investment in airport infrastructure.
“It would be too costly for a for-profit buyer to acquire an airport such as YVR without reducing services and passing these costs on to airport users through higher fees and charges,” the report states.
[...]