YYZ (Toronto, Canada): Why so Expensive?

[aic1985]

Why are landing fees so high at Toronto? Has any airline stopped flying to Toronto due to the high charges?

[andrew_c]

Mainly because of the reconstruction of the whole airport. T1 was torn down, T3 is new, T2 is going soon as well. They basically are tearing the whole thing down, and making it way larger.

[aic1985]

true that but doesn't this hurts Toronto in turn as some airlines might deem it to expensive to fly here? I mean we are not unique in this situation. There are others who have rebuilt and yet are cheap.

[UnitedFlyer]

Since it is the only major airport in... Ontario really (Ottawa is quite far away and not really 'major') and since Hamilton just sucks, they have a monopoly. They can charge what ever they want... why wouldn't they.

Besides demand is not really going to change all that much. Ticket prices are just inflated by the airlines and they recoup their costs.

[andrew_c]

Hey! You forgot London! We have an international airport too!

[yyz-yvr]

Since it is the only major airport in... Ontario really (Ottawa is quite far away and not really 'major') and since Hamilton just sucks, they have a monopoly. They can charge what ever they want... why wouldn't they.

Besides demand is not really going to change all that much. Ticket prices are just inflated by the airlines and they recoup their costs.

Wow, that has never even entered my mind, but that could be it. Your right, theres only one choice, although for domestic you have a bit more. But as far as flights overseas, YYZ is really your only choice. Good thinken!

[CathayPacific]

Why are landing fees so high at Toronto? Has any airline stopped flying to Toronto due to the high charges?

I guess it's mainly because of the new terminal (T1). It's costly to build. And there are other improvements and constructions being done, such as the inter-terminal train, etc. They all cost money.

This is also why the Asian airports consistently rank as the most expensive airports to fly to. Same as YYZ T1, they are not only designed as an "airport", but as an architectural masterpiece with more functions.

Since it is the only major airport in... Ontario really (Ottawa is quite far away and not really 'major') and since Hamilton just sucks, they have a monopoly. They can charge what ever they want... why wouldn't they.

Lack of competition is the case for most airports though, e.g. in Sydney Australia, where else can you fly to besides SYD? Cities such as Seattle, Atlanta, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, etc. would all have the same monopoly.

Another thing to note is that GTAA (as with any other Canadian airports) is not subsidized by the government, so it needs to charge the customers (i.e. airlines) for whatever the cost is to run and build the airport.

[avro_arrow_25206]

Lack of competition is the case for most airports though, e.g. in Sydney Australia, where else can you fly to besides SYD? Cities such as Seattle, Atlanta, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, etc. would all have the same monopoly.

Another thing to note is that GTAA (as with any other Canadian airports) is not subsidized by the government, so it needs to charge the customers (i.e. airlines) for whatever the cost is to run and build the airport.

It is not surprising that the fees for all major Canadian airports are on the high side. I'm not sure they don't get any funding at all, but as Cathay pointed out, it is true that they are not under direct government authority. So they're pretty much on their own in terms of capital expenditure. The GTAA for example has a 50-year lease with the government. I forgot the terms, but I'll look it up some time...

The smaller airports such as Hamilton (YHM) are owned by the municipalities themselves.

[ptbodale]

The federal government sold off the airports, however they charge the airport authorities rent. This rent increases each year. The airports are non-profit so they have to cover the rent plus they have to upgrade the facilities. The only winner is the federal government.

[sturla]

There are several reasons for this but the key reason is one which has only been semi-implied, namely that the government messed up terribly when they privatized the airports. The second reason, to sum it up with two words, is Lou Turpin. In the same way that people like to state that Leblanc messed up several airlines (and people claiming that are wrong but oh well) I'm gonna suggest that Turpin has gone to great lengths to ruin two completely good airports. I'm sure some of the AirCanada people in here are willing to argue this one for me. (Its too late right now anyway for me to make too many coherent statements.)

-Sturla

[aic1985]

The Govt. ought to make Toronto very cheap...this will help us into creating YYZ a huge pax/frieght hub just like Dubai. We are geographically at a strategic location which can help handle trafic bound for USA, Western Canada, Caribbean, and Central America (including Mexico) from Europe.

[avro_arrow_25206]

Turpin has gone to great lengths to ruin two completely good airports.
-Sturla

Would one of them be Mirabel?

[Crazy764]

Wasn't there a recent news article that suggested the government was going to cut down on those expensive rent fees?

[avro_arrow_25206]

Wasn't there a recent news article that suggested the government was going to cut down on those expensive rent fees?

I haven't heard about that yet. If it is true, then who's going to make up the difference?

[Crazy764]

I haven't heard about that yet. If it is true, then who's going to make up the difference?

Perhaps the feds will just have to settle with a $8.1 billion surplus instead of a $9.1 billion one.

Here's the article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...tory/Business/

Et en francais pour nortre amis Quebecois: http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites...005,972003.php

(Any mistakes in that one? I'm trying to learn French. )