Transatlantic air travel growth is moving faster than domestic, according to Air Canada. However, while travel as a whole recovers, several barriers remain, including health regulations and higher costs.
Transatlantic Growth
Air Canada’s “transatlantic recovery is better than domestic,” said Mark Galardo, Air Canada’s Senior Vice President Network Planning and Revenue Management. While domestic travel within Canada is beginning to open up more, Galardo said he expects business demand to disappear from those who fly weekly between interprovincial destinations, such between YUL and YYZ or other similar routes.
The recovery of transatlantic travel was boosted when Canada reopened to fully vaccinated international visitors on 07SEP, as previously reported by OpenJaw. Simple Flying notes that while Canadians are still technically advised to avoid non-essential travel, many European countries are open to fully vaccinated Canadians, particularly for those in the visiting family and relatives markets (VFR).
According to Galardo, VFR markets, particularly in India and the Middle East, are “very strong,” driving transatlantic recovery. Due to this high demand, Air Canada is continuing to increase service to key international destinations.
Barriers for Travel
However, while transatlantic recovery continues, travellers are still facing barriers.
“A lot of folks thought once you regained international service, then all the flights would just start flying that day,” said Jocye Carter, chief executive of the Halifax International Airport Authority.
While YHZ is seeing travel slowly recover, Carter says demand remains uncertain. “We continue to have some barriers to growth that we’re looking to the federal government to address,” Carter said.
Barriers reportedly include regulations such as COVID-19 testing and quarantine measures, where travellers returning to Canada must show a recent negative PCR test, and those under 12 must isolate for two weeks upon return.
“We’re hoping and advocating that those policies evolve,” said Andy Gibbons, WestJet’s Vice-President Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs, as vaccination for both employees and travellers becomes mandatory for air travel at the end of OCT.
Rising Airfare
One more hurdle may also impact the industry’s recovery: higher airfares.
According to The Globe and Mail, the average domestic round-trip plane ticket in JUL 2021 rose by 21 per cent compared with the same month in 2019.
For cross-border air travel, data company Cirium reported that a return ticket on the Toronto-New York route rose by a similar amount, 21 per cent, while seats between YYC and YVR cost 16 per cent more.
Airlines that posted losses during the pandemic are restarting with soaring fuel prices and higher per-seat costs due to smaller aircraft, reports The Globe and Mail. Jacques Roy, a transportation business professor at HEC Montréal said higher fares are a signal that airlines are attempting to return to profitability after the pandemic.
But higher prices may make hesitant travellers even more reluctant to return to travel.
