Canada airports expand visa-free travel to more cities in China

OTTAWA, Canada – “Expansion of visa-free travel to more cities in Asia is good not only for Canada’s international hub airports but also for the wider airports community that can benefit from increa

OTTAWA, Canada – “Expansion of visa-free travel to more cities in Asia is good not only for Canada’s international hub airports but also for the wider airports community that can benefit from increased connectivity to new destinations,” said Daniel-Robert Gooch, president of the Canadian Airports Council, commenting on expansion of the China Transit Program (CTP).

The Canadian Airports Council (CAC) today welcomed further expansion of the China Transit Program to eligible Chinese travelers with the addition of five new cities: Xiamen, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Shenyang, and Harbin. The CAC supports economy-boosting initiatives like CTP that encourage air service development by increasing the number of visa-free travelers transiting through Canadian airports en route to and from US destinations – at little cost and no threat to Canada’s national security.

“We welcome the government’s announcement today because China is an extremely important aviation market for Canada. We urge further expansion of CTP to more countries and carriers in Asia with the eventual goal of Transit Without Visa (TWOV) for the international-to-international traveler segment,” added Daniel-Robert Gooch.

Today’s announcement builds on the government’s decision in May to expand the CTP to Tokyo Narita, Tokyo Haneda and Seoul Incheon, three major hub airports in East Asia. More transit traffic through Canada’s airports resulting from the TCP and TWOV benefits the Canadian economy in a number of ways, notably by making certain routes economically viable that otherwise would not exist and by bolstering international trade with key Asian markets. Expansion of these programs is essential for the Canadian air transportation industry to operate on a competitive playing field globally. The Conference Board of Canada estimates that just 5% of Asia-US transit traffic flowing through Canada’s hub airports would result in 3,200 jobs, $270 million in GDP and $110 million in revenues to government.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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