Ottawa, Ontario
22 September 2014
The Government of Canada is committed to helping the Canadian air industry increase its access to international markets which, in turn, benefits domestic businesses, shippers and travellers. To this end, on September 22, 2014, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Park Geun-hye, President of the Republic of Korea, witnessed the signing of the Open Skies Air Transport Agreement between Canada and Korea. The signing, by Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, and Yun Byung-se, Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs, is a significant milestone in the deepening of our bilateral relations. The signing took place during the state visit of PresidentPark to Canada.
The Agreement provides for:
- An open and unlimited number of direct passenger and cargo flights between the two countries;
- Unrestricted ability for Canadian and Korean airlines to stop in countries between and beyond Canada and Korea, to drop off and pick up additional passengers and cargo;
- A market-based tariff regime with minimal filing requirements for prices;
- Fully open unrestricted code-sharing; and,
- Open points of service.
The Agreement builds on the original 1989 Canada-Korea Air Services Agreement, which was amended in 1993 and 1996.
Canada’s Blue Sky policy encourages long-term, sustainable competition and the development of new or expanded international air services. Under this policy, since 2006, the Government of Canada has concluded new or expanded air transport agreements covering more than 80 countries, including:
- Open Skies-type agreements with 16 countries: Barbados, Brazil, Costa Rica, Curaçao, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Jamaica, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Sint Maarten, Switzerland and Trinidad and Tobago.
- Expanded agreements with 20 countries: Algeria, China, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa and Turkey.
- New first-time agreements with 21 countries: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, the Gambia, Kenya, Kuwait, Macedonia, Paraguay, Qatar, Rwanda, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tunisia and Uruguay.
- A comprehensive Air Transport Agreement between Canada and the 28 European Union member states (including Ireland and Croatia).
Additional and up-to-date information on the Blue Sky policy and its implementation can be found at: www.tc.gc.ca/bluesky.
