It's cheaper to land at Vancouver

The bigger and heavier you are (or at least, the aircraft you are operating) the greater the savings you are going to make from Vancouver International Airport Authority's decision to cut landing fees for international passenger and cargo flights to match charges for domestic services.

Vancouver is bucking the general trend of airport fee increases, which have received so much criticism from airline bodies in recent years.
The new rates, effective since the beginning of the year, mean that cargo operators flying Boeing 747 freighters into the airport will pay 32% less in landing fees this year than they did in 2006.

The annoucement chimes with stipulations in open skies agreements such as that between Canada and the USA that require international and domestic landing fees to be the same.

The unusual thing is that the authority feels that it is a sufficiently strong financial position to be able to reduce international fees rather than increase domestic ones to even them out.

"This is a strategic move to help increase Vancouver's competitive advantage and stimulate related growth and economic benefits for the region," says chief executive Larry Berg.