Results from the government’s regional air access program have been mixed. A year after its implementation, despite some improvements, elected local officials regret the numerous delays and lack of frequency.
• Also read: Flights to the regions: Very little enthusiasm for $500 tickets
“We think the program does some of the work. Most of the work is unfinished, which means that supply must match demand. Currently there are too many flight delays, even if there has been some improvement in recent months, there are still too many flight delays, there are too many cancellations,” said the President of the Union of Municipalities and Municipalities of Quebec, ex officio mayor of Gaspé, Daniel Côté.
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For the $500 ticket segment, 44,302 round-trip tickets were sold from June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023. Travelers traveling to the regions must have airports in Quebec or Montreal as their origin or destination.
“The problem we hear in our regions is that there is no point in having such a program and we cannot go from one region to another. For many, it seems obvious that a change needs to be made,” said Jacques Demers, president of the Quebec Association of Municipalities.
With regard to the airfare reimbursement component for residents of remote regions, 13,277 applications were made to the Ministère des Transport for the 2022-2023 financial year. In eastern Quebec, 152 applications were made in Bas-Saint-Laurent, 476 in Gaspésie, 8,073 in Îles-de-la-Madeleine and 4,013 in Côte-Nord.
“It is still not known if I had posters made at Gaspé Airport instead of the MTQ. We pasted the airport with posters. We advertised to say to the people of Gaspé and Gaspésie: “Take the plane, look around, you are entitled to a 30% discount”, explained Mr. Côté.
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The ministry says that due to the timeliness of the program, it is still too early to draw any conclusions about the program. However, it is said that the offer makes tickets available at an affordable price. There is still work to be done for elected officials.
“Even if the ticket was $2, we got it for $500. Even if it was $2, there are many entrepreneurs in our area who wouldn’t take it because the service isn’t reliable enough,” says Daniel Côté, who believes the business model in regional air transport needs to change. In his opinion, the market needs to be regulated to meet the needs of the regions.
Short-term and long-term solutions should be explored.
“It’s actually about looking for something bigger carriers, but there are tracks that need to be extended and that are not suitable,” believes the President of the Quebec Association of Municipalities.
There has been some improvement in regional air travel locally. According to the government, 75% of regional flights departed on time in April and May.