The federal government has cleared the way for eight Canadian airports to begin accepting international travellers again, but Windsor isn't one of them.
That news has irked Windsor West MPP Brian Masse, who fired off a letter Tuesday to federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra. Masse has expressed disappointment that Windsor Airport (YQG) will not be one of the eight airports to allow international travel starting November 30.
"This has created significant confusion and disappointment that YQG was not included since the expectations were that this border gateway airport was going to be approved before the US-Canada border reopens to non-essential travel on November 8," wrote Masse. "This communication is not an expression of mere disappointment but rather the need to identify the reasons why YQG was not approved and to rapidly correct this situation before fundamental market structure damage becomes permanent.
In the letter, Masse pointed out that Windsor-area residents who want to fly internationally will have to head to Pearson International Airport in Toronto, causing economic issues locally, along with financial losses for the City of Windsor, which owns YQG.
Masse is also concerned about the impact of the border reopening on the Windsor airport.
"YQG competed with Detroit-Wayne Metropolitan Airport (DTW) in Michigan, which is one the busiest in North America, for air passenger customers from local Windsor area residents," wrote Masse. "Once the border re-opens, local air passengers will use DTW as their origin airport rather than travel to Toronto Pearson, as they been forced to do during the pandemic. This will damage the more-than-a-decade-long work YQG has done to not only sustain its market position but to more than triple its share in direct competition with a far larger competitor less than 30 minutes away."
Masse has called on the Transport Ministry to explain its decision to leave YQG off the list and has indicated that he will reintroduce a bill preventing the closure of airport control towers.
Global News reported Tuesday that the eight airports that will reopen to international travel on November 30 are St. John’s International, John C. Munro Hamilton International, Regina International, and Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International. The other four are Waterloo International, Kelowna International, Abbotsford International and Victoria International.
There were nine Canadian airports previously cleared for international passengers, but Alghabra said Tuesday that there were at least a dozen more airports that have not been cleared. It is not known if Windsor was on that list.
