Some of Canada's airports are increasing fees to passengers, here's why
CTV
Airports that lost millions of dollars during the pandemic are now trying to recoup some of the losses as travel picks up again. To do this, many are increasing the "user-pay" system that generates revenue from passengers, fuel and aircraft fees.
Airports that lost millions of dollars during the pandemic are now trying to recoup some of the losses as travel picks up again.
To do this, many are increasing the "user-pay" system that generates revenue from passengers, fuel and aircraft fees.
After the decline in traffic during the pandemic, some airports are now increasing fees they charge passengers.
"They have to get it from somewhere," Barry Prentice, professor of supply chain management at the University of Manitoba, told CTV's Your Morning on Friday. "So certainly, the only place they can get it from is passengers. They can obviously charge the airlines too, but that'll just work its way into airfare. So one way or another, we're going to pay more."
Fees for "airport improvements" and "passenger facility fees" are ways airports can fund upgrades, maintenance and employee salaries.
"Some of these fees are actually going to pay debt, but they're also there to pay for airport rent because the airports actually have to pay a fair amount of rent to the federal government every year," Prentice said.
Canada's largest airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport, increased improvement fees charged to departing passengers on Jan. 1, from $30 to $35.
