WWW.WINGSMAGAZINE.COM March/April 2015 | WINGS 21
would also be underfunded by as much as
$17 million just for the existing airports.
Also feeling the capital pinch are five
NAS airports with traffic volumes be-
low 600,000 passengers a year. These
airports are struggling to upgrade infra-
structure but are not eligible for funding
by the ACAP or, as a NAS airport, cannot
participate in Infrastructure Canada’s
$8.8 billion Building Canada Fund, in-
troduced in 2011. The CAC estimates a
need for up to $7 million in project fund-
ing for these smaller NAS airports and is
asking for changes to federal infrastruc-
ture programs.
The CAC is a division of the Wash-
ington-based Airports Council Inter-
national-North America (ACI-NA). Its
45 members represent more than 100
airports, including all of the local airport
authorities that are part of the NAS.
Business has been good. Last year, mem-
ber airports experienced a combined six
per cent passenger growth. Airports are
adding carriers and new infrastructure,
including the $82.5 million pedestrian
tunnel linking Toronto’s Billy Bishop
Airport with the mainland, and a $300
million, six-gate international extension
to Montreal’s Trudeau International.
Since Transport Canada offloaded air-
ports to local authorities, the industry
has invested more than $17 billion in
new facilities while keeping its hand out
of the taxpayer’s pocket.
Wings recently sat down with Gooch
to discuss future growth, especially in
the critical international transit sector
which generates more income for airport
operators. “If we want to capture a good
share of the growth in connecting traf-
fic between Asia and South America, for
example, we need a transit without visa
program [TWOV)],” he said.
Canada currently has a limited TWOV
operated by Citizenship and Immigra-
tion and the Canada Border Services
Agency, but only for destination flights
to the U.S., and only from a handful of
Asian countries such as Thailand and
the Philippines, and four cities in China:
Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and
Shanghai. The CAC estimates that on
some TWOV flights from Asia, up to 80
per cent of travellers are continuing on
to destinations in the U.S.
The Conference Board of Canada
calculates that expanding the existing
TWOV program in Asia would result in
3,200 jobs, $270 million in GDP and an
extra $110 million to the government.
The CAC has been making progress with
the government and expects announce-
ments on improvements to the current
program soon, including expanding the
number of cities in China. Still, Gooch
has his sights set higher. “The Middle
East is eating our lunch. Ten years ago
they had no traffic between Latin America
and Asia. Now they have 20 per cent.”
As if to illustrate the point, Dubai
International Airport topped London
Heathrow as the world’s busiest inter-
national airport in 2014. Dubai handled
70.5 million international passengers
versus Heathrow’s 68.1. “Heathrow is
losing a lot of traffic to Dubai because
we’re able to cater for the connections
that Heathrow no longer has the capacity
to service,” Paul Griffiths, chief executive
of Dubai International Airport and aformer manager of London Gatwick told
the U.K.’s Financial Times.
In the case of Heathrow it comes down
to capacity constraints, including only
two runways. But it is all part of what
Gooch calls “passenger facilitation,”
including how you flow passengers effi-
ciently through airports. “That is the way
things work in most of the world: Canada
and the United States are out of step on
this. We need to be a little more like they
are in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.”
Another gain that the CAC has won for
its members is a seat at the table when