New federal agreements allow YVR to expand route options in 6 countries

Vancouver International Airport and other Canadian airports can potentially benefit from an expanded global reach, due to new and expanded air transport agreements finalized between the Canadian federal government and six other countries.

In a release, the federal government has concluded agreements with St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Algeria, Qatar, Jordan, Côte-d’Ivoire, and Mongolia.

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More flights per week can be operated to and from Algeria, Qatar, and Jordan, and the expanded Canada-Jordan agreement specifically allows designated airlines to serve any city in the other country’s territory.

An expanded agreement with Côte-d’Ivoire now includes a fully open and flexible code-sharing regime, and a first-time agreement with Mongolia allows the introduction of an open and flexible code shares.

Code shares are when air airline offers seats on a flight operated by another airline, allowing it effectively expand its network and product offerings.

The new rights under all of these new and expanded agreements are available for use by airlines immediately.

“We are pleased to develop new air transport relationships and expand existing ones with our many partner countries around the world,” said Marc Garneau, the federal Minister of Transport, in a statement.

“These new and expanded agreements provide air carriers with additional flexibility to serve these growing markets, which is good news for travellers, shippers and the air transport industry.”

While new regulations in place allow the creation of such new routes and code share products, actual flight products may not be offered by the airlines for months or even years. New options, of course, depend on market demand and private sector initiative.