New program to facilitate travel through Canada

Vancouver, July 30, 2009, The Government of Canada is making it easier for international travelers on their way to and from the United States to navigate Canadian airports to promote business at Canadian airports.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of travelers move across Canadian airports on their way to the United States. The fresh program will let certain international travelers on the way to and from the U.S. with legal U.S. visas to journey through Canadian airports devoid of a Canadian transit visa.

Intended to attain a balance amid ensuring safety and ease the movement of authentic travelers, the Transit with no Visa program is being put into practice in Vancouver subsequent a victorious pilot project take on at the Vancouver International Airport. Other main Canadian airports will now be capable of applying for parallel status.

At the moment, the program only applies to nationals of the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Taiwan who hold legal U.S. visas and who are traveling through the Vancouver International Airport to and from the United States on a contributing airline. At present, the following airlines are entitled to contribute in the program: Philippine Airlines, China Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways.

As the Government looks to further spread out the Transit without Visa program, a complete assessment of each new application will be conducted before approving any extra airports, airlines or overseas nationals into the program.

As the program expands to take in more Canadian airports and participating airlines, so also will the financial benefits to Canada, for instance more revenue from airport fees. The augmented flow of international travelers transiting to and from the U.S. through Canadian airports will take more revenue to Canada’s market, mainly through money spent by passengers on airport trade.

In the period in-between, in identification of the significance of travel from China, a separate China Transit Trial has been establish. This trial will permit Chinese nationals holding valid U.S. visas to journey to and from the U.S. through the Vancouver International Airport devoid of obtaining a Canadian transit visa. To meet the criteria, they have to travel on one of the pre-authorized air carriers in the Transit without Visa program and fly on direct, non-stop flights to the Vancouver International Airport, instigate from Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Manila and Taipei. The experiment will be in place for one year, after which an assessment will be undertaken.