Without surprise, like any sector of economic activity, inflation has played […] in the tourism sector
points out Michel Archambault, professor emeritus of tourism and founder of the Transat Chair in Tourism at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM ), on issue Facts first.
For example, you now have to pay around $1,200 for a Montreal-Porto flight, compared to $770 in October 2022.
According to him, the rise in the price of fuel oil, the scarcity of labor and the limited number of seats have led to heavy losses for air carriers, which have to inflate their prices.
A demand overheated
Despite skyrocketing prices, demand is there, according to Jacques Nantel, professor emeritus at HEC Montreal. Households, which have been deprived of travel during the pandemic, are ready to return to their habits.
« It’s a bit as if consumers had been put on a presto for three years […] and there, we start to open the lid and we see that it explodes. »
In this context, airports are operating at full capacity to accommodate the many travellers. The capacity of the airports is completely exceeded, that’s why all the airports in the world are canceling flights
notes Mehran Ebrahimi, director of the Aeronautics and Civil Aviation Observatory and professor at theUQAM .
All the infrastructure is overexploited
in particular because airlines had to store part of their fleet due to lack of staff.
« It takes about 15 to 20 pilots per plane. So if you include five planes, that’s about 75 pilots. These pilots, we don’t have them. »
Special situation in Canada
In Europe and the United States, travelers can always turn to low-cost airlines, such as EasyJet or Southwest. The situation is quite different in Canada, which is a very small market internationally
which promotes market concentration, as Jacques Nantel points out.
low-cost in Canada”,”text”:”Unfortunately, the regulations have not been favorable for the establishment of a real low-cost in Canada””>Unfortunately, the regulations were not favorable for the implementation of a true low-cost au Canada
laments Mr. Archambault.
Mr. Ebrahimi agrees: the conditions are not currently met to allow new players to emerge on the market. Yet the role of government is to encourage competition, according to the professor.
Asked about the recent federal government approval of the purchase of the company Sunwing by WestJet, it evokes a merger scandalous
taking place despite concerns expressed by the Competition Bureau.
We have just created two duopolies, therefore Westjet-Sunwing in the West and Air Canada in the East, and at that point all the other companies will suffer.