Dubai: UAE aviation officials hope that the election of a new Liberal government headed by Justin Trudeau in Ottawa will result in more direct daily flights between the emirates and Canada.
And Saif Mohammad Al Suwaidi, Director General of the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), believes that talks with the new government can begin as soon as January.
Although Canada officially has an open skies policy in place, the outgoing government of Conservative Stephen Harper limited both UAE carriers to three flights a week each, and only to Toronto.
“Let the new government settle down and of course we’ll start discussing with them the requirements of our carriers since the current operation have been capped for almost now more than eight or nine years,” Al Suwaidi told Gulf News yesterday. “So hopefully, we will get a positive response from their end.”
Emirates told Gulf News yesterday it would not be commenting on the issue.
Previously, Emirates airline president Tim Clark said the carrier wanted daily flights between Dubai and the Canadian cities of Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal.
In briefing documents, Emirates airline had said that more flights alone between Dubai and Canada could generate $480 million (Dh1.76 billion) in economic activity, and each additional flight would inject $60 million annually into the Canadian economy.
Al Suwaidi told Gulf News the GCAA would “try and test the water first” in talks over more flights.
“It’s too early now to judge on this, but maybe in the beginning of next year, we will start to talk,” he said.
Emirates is the largest customer of Boeing 777 aircraft, and 30 per cent of 777 parts are made in Ontario.
