Anyone flying within Canada knows tickets are not cheap, with prices for coast-to-coast trips rivalling those of flights to Europe or Asia.Transportation Minister Steven MacKinnon says there's little the federal government can do to make domestic air travel more affordable.."I don't wanna sound like I'm making excuses — but we have a very big country and it's a nordic country," MacKinnon told attendees at an event hosted by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade on Tuesday. "It's tough to provide air services in Canada."He went on to explain that even if foreign carriers many hoped would come in and offer more competition do so, they will only fly into larger airports in already relatively well-serviced cities, leaving small towns out of the loop."If you're in Kelowna, or if you're in Bathurst, New Brunswick, or Wabush, Labrador, it's not always entirely economical to service those communities," MacKinnon added. "It's gonna be expensive to travel by air in Canada, unfortunately, because of natural factors.".He said Canadians will likely have to rely on the nation's three main airlines — Air Canada, WestJet, and Porter — adding that the government will "support them as much as we can.""I don't mean to infer that we're going to not try and keep costs and fares down to the extent that it is possible," MacKinnon noted, "but I do think it's important for folks to hear from a transport minister that there are natural factors that make air travel in Canada an expensive proposition."GVBT President and CEO Bridgitte Anderson pointed out that "it is often cheaper to fly out of the country than within the country, and that is just the reality.""We have very good carriers who provide mostly good services to a lot of very important places in the country," MacKinnon concluded.
