Airline industry group opposes privatization of Canadian airports

An executive at the International Air Transport Association, which represents 370 of the world’s airlines, has some advice for Prime Minister Mark Carney as he privatizes Canada’s biggest airports: Don’t do it.

Nick Careen, senior vice-president of operations at IATA, said the plan unveiled this week to transform airports in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver into for-profit companies would drive up fees paid by the airlines, which would be forced to pass on the higher costs to travellers.

“We’re against what they’re doing because it is primarily done to extract cash,” said Mr. Careen, whose members include Air Canada, WestJet and most other major carriers in the world. “We’ve got lots of examples of how that’s failed.”

Examples around the world show fees paid by airlines and passengers go up when investment funds seeking returns of 8 or 12 per cent become owners of airports, he said.

“Everybody wants a return on their investment. They’re not doing this for free,” Mr. Careen said in an interview.

“We’re only going to make it more expensive” to travel, he said. “It flies in the face of the argument that we’re trying to make travel in Canada less expensive. This is not going to do it.”

Carney details plans to open up Canada’s four largest airports to private investment

Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sept. 15 unveiled the government’s plan to sell operating concessions for Canada’s four largest airports. The government would retain ownership of the land and assets and take stakes in the companies through its sovereign wealth fund. The announcement was made at the government’s Canada Investment Summit, intended to showcase the country’s investment opportunities to global investors.

Details have not been decided upon but profits from the airport operations would go to the investors as well as toward upgrades at Canada’s other airports.

Mr. Carney said transforming the airports to for-profit operations is intended to “improve passenger services and find efficiencies.”

“The evidence shows travel costs go down over time,” Mr. Carney said.

Mr. Careen said the global examples, from Britain to Australia, show this is not the case.

Australia’s airports monitor found that the country’s airports, privatized beginning in the late 1990s, raised fees to airlines by 1.6-billion Australian dollars ($1.6-billion) over 10 years ending in 2016, based on the same passenger volumes.

What could airport privatization mean for travellers in Canada?

Shane Zhang, a professor of aviation at Australia’s Adelaide University, said the country’s airport privatization brought increased efficiencies, more incentives to invest in infrastructure and better cost controls.

But for passengers, the effects were mixed, Prof. Zhang said. While travelers enjoyed upgraded terminals, restaurants and other amenities, they also faced higher airfares as airports increased the fees they charge to airlines. Vehicle parking fees also rose, he said.

IATA’s Mr. Careen said Canada’s current airports regime is “okay” but needs better regulation over the fees charged to airlines and passengers, which the airports are allowed to raise at will. He said the federal government should be investing the hundreds of millions of dollars it collects in rent in the airports themselves, rather than adding it to the general coffers.

The government has collected $8.4-billion in rent from the airports since establishing the non-profit corporations beginning in the 1990s. Airports paid $556-million in rent to Ottawa in 2025, but received far less in return for infrastructure upgrades.

Editorial: Airport privatization is a flight path to accountability

Jean-Charles del Duchetto, a spokesman for Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, said the fund manager has invested in airports around the world for 20 years. The Canadian privatizations are “an opportunity for La Caisse and we are open to looking at the options and using our expertise to the advantage of travelers and airlines.”

Air Canada spokesman Christophe Hennebelle said Canada’s largest airline is ready to participate in consultations with the government over the privatizations. Paramount for the airline is “ensuring that costs for passengers remain the same or lower, and reinvesting in aviation infrastructure, which is in dire need of it.”

“Air Canada and its customers pay a total of nearly $2-billion each year to Canadian airports, so this is an important issue for us,” Mr. Hennebelle said.

WestJet said in a statement any change to the airport system should have strong regulation and accountability to ensure affordability and competitiveness.