FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 23, 1998
Contact: Bill Mosley
Tel.: (202) 366-5571
DOT 31-98
U.S.-CANADA AVIATION AGREEMENT
SPURRED 37 PER CENT MARKET GROWTH,
ECONOMIC BENEFITS, SECRETARY SLATER SAYS
Air services between the United States and Canada have expanded dramatically during the three years under the open transborder agreement, Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater said today, benefiting the consumers, airlines and economies of both countries.
On the eve of the third anniversary of its Feb. 24, 1995 signing, the Secretary noted the achievement of a 37 per cent growth rate in travel in less than three years. Tomorrow, the final restrictions on air services will be removed, completely deregulating the transborder market, Slater announced.
As a result of this agreement, we will continue to see the creation of new economic activity and new jobs on both sides of the border," Secretary Slater said. "Together with the 28 Open Skies agreements negotiated under President Clinton, the success of the U.S.-Canada agreement continues the strong effort to create a global free market in air transportation."
The agreement granted to Canadian airlines the right to serve any city in the United States. U.S. airlines also gained unlimited access to Canadian cities with the exception of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. For these three cities, new U.S. airline services have been phased in over a transition period. The phase-in provisions for Montreal and Vancouver expired on Feb. 24, 1997, and the restrictions for Toronto cease on the third anniversary.
Significant numbers of U.S. and Canadian travelers have benefited from the new agreement, Secretary Slater said. Based on preliminary data for the year ended Aug. 31, 1997, total U.S.-Canada passenger traffic has increased 37.2 percent from 12.1 million to 16.6 million passengers annually since the agreement was signed. This growth is significantly higher than the 4.3 percent growth rate during the three-year period immediately preceding the agreement. On average, the yearly growth rate following the agreement has been 11.1 percent compared to 1.4 percent before the agreement.
The increase of 4.5 million passengers since the agreement was signed is, by itself, larger than the total yearly number of passengers traveling between the United States and any other country with the exception of Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany and France.
In 1994, there were 54 nonstop markets with annual traffic of more than 50,000 passengers. By 1997, the number of markets with that level of traffic had increased to 77 markets. Of these markets, 51 had annual traffic levels of more than 100,000 passengers, including 17 markets that gained their first new nonstop scheduled service after 1994.
The department today also released a brief analysis highlighting the impact of the agreement on its third anniversary. It is available on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov/ost/aviation/
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