{"id":898678,"date":"2026-09-17T03:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T03:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/898678\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T03:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T03:16:10","slug":"what-will-airport-privatization-mean-for-travellers-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/898678\/","title":{"rendered":"What will airport privatization mean for travellers in Canada?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Travellers at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. Proponents of Ottawa’s proposed privatization model point to fewer cancellations and more international routes as potential benefits.Sammy Kogan\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Travellers could see fewer cancelled flights, more international routes offered by low-cost carriers and sleeker amenities if Ottawa\u2019s plan to privatize airports follows in the footsteps of major regional hubs in other countries, proponents say. <\/p>\n

But critics warn that success elsewhere won\u2019t be easily replicated in Canada, where a lack of competition adds different considerations.<\/p>\n

The model proposed by Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a> at the inaugural Canada Investment Summit would involve opening up the doors to private investment in Canada\u2019s major airports, while the federal government would retain ownership of the underlying land and assets. <\/p>\n

Proponents argue that this model has revitalized airports around the world.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is \u201cthe airports seem to improve,\u201d Michael Weisbach, co-author of a seminal study on airport ownership models by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research, said in an interview. \u201cThey start to win awards, the cancellation rates went down, the number of routes that fly into cities goes up.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Canada\u2019s first-ever investment summit in Toronto, Prime Minister Mark Carney says he wants to see private investors operate Canada’s four largest airports.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

In fact, the study, most recently updated this year, found that flight cancellation rates dipped as much as 39 per cent under private equity ownership. (It found no similar benefits after private acquisitions that didn\u2019t involve private equity.)<\/p>\n

When JPMorgan Asset Management first bought a stake in Cairns airport in Queensland, Australia, as part of a 99-year lease with the regional government, the effects on service and infrastructure were immediate, Mr. Weisbach said. <\/p>\n

Some improvements were small and aesthetic. \u201cWhere the other airports look a little bit rundown,\u201d Mr. Weisbach said, \u201cthey had nice coffee shops, nice gift shops \u2013 the stores are all much nicer.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the biggest changes involved the number of international routes available, including from lower-cost carriers. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey negotiated with governments all around Asia to put in non-stop flights from Tokyo and Seoul and Singapore to Cairns,\u201d said Mr. Weisbach, who is also a professor of finance at Ohio State University. \u201cThe whole community benefited.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Cairns has a uniquely favourable location near some of Australia\u2019s most famous natural landmarks, the advantages it experienced were not outliers. <\/p>\n

A 2023 University of Alberta study of 2,400 airports found that those privately operated routinely functioned more efficiently, with airports purchased by private equity funds in particular seeing flight cancellations decline by 50 per cent on average.<\/p>\n

But a direct comparison with other jurisdictions may fail to consider Canada\u2019s unique competitive environment and regulations, which would affect how privatization plays out, according to researchers who have studied international models. <\/p>\n

A privatized airport would need to examine both airport fees and flight-related costs to maximize revenue for shareholders, said David Macdonald, a senior economist for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.<\/p>\n

Airport fees include \u201ceverything that you\u2019re going to pay as an individual going to the airport,\u201d such as parking or baggage carts, Mr. Macdonald said.<\/p>\n

In Britain and Europe, many privatized airports charge the equivalent of up to $3.50 for baggage carts, for example.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re also charging the airlines more to deplane passengers, to take off, to land,\u201d Mr. Macdonald said. <\/p>\n

At Scotland\u2019s busiest airport, Edinburgh International, drivers are charged the equivalent of roughly $17 to enter the drop-off zone, with similar fees across a handful of privately operated airports in Britain. Besides being unpopular with locals doing pickups, the fees also increase the cost of ride-hailing services. <\/p>\n

While in Edinburgh\u2019s case, the charges were introduced decades after the British Airports Authority was privatized, fees have been raised aggressively in the past 10 years. The Scottish Conservatives last year accused the airport of making travellers a \u201ccash cow.\u201d Airport bosses, for their part, said the move was meant to reduce emissions from automobiles, which they called \u201cthe most polluting mode\u201d of travel.<\/p>\n

While some airports privatized internationally may draw in more routes and still keep airfares from rising substantially, a competitive environment could be an important factor, Mr. Macdonald said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have a situation where there\u2019s actual airport competition, then you can steal flights from other airports,\u201d he said. \u201cInstead of increasing the cost to passengers, you increase the volume of flights, you move more people through your airport, have better use of space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such a move is possible in Europe, with many airports in close proximity, but not in Canada. \u201cPeople in Montreal aren\u2019t going to drive to Ottawa,\u201d Mr. Macdonald said. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a report from the Canadian Labour Congress released this week said that privatization of airports in Australia both squeezed more money from passengers and put airport jobs at risk.<\/p>\n

Revenue collected from airlines per passenger at Perth Airport, for example, rose by more than 60 per cent over 10 years, the trade union organization found, while Sydney Airport trimmed 40 per cent of its work force after postsale job protections expired. <\/p>\n

Matthew da Mota, research director at the Canadian Shield Institute, a public-policy think tank, has researched Ottawa\u2019s proposal. He emphasized that while much remains unknown, Mr. Carney\u2019s model could generate consumer benefits beyond travel at Canada\u2019s major airports. <\/p>\n

A shift toward private investment could unlock new funding for more airports in remote communities, better roads and digital infrastructure, without requiring the government to borrow as much to finance them, he said. One example cited by Ottawa is new broadband internet infrastructure.<\/p>\n

But he still feels that the the immediate gains for travellers remain dubious. \u201cI\u2019ve had people ask me in the last day, \u2018Do we have a major problem with airports not functioning super well?\u2019\u201d Mr. da Mota said. \u201cI think for most people, it\u2019s not always the best experience, but it\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Travellers at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. Proponents of Ottawa’s proposed privatization model point…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44,2741],"class_list":["post-898678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news","tag-pf-ca"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}