New survey reveals Canadians do not support airport privatisation

TIN news:  A new public opinion poll released by Angus Reid Institute suggests that most Canadians do not support the plan to privatise Canada’s eight largest airports.

The eight Canadian airports proposed to be privatised are Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Halifax.

The countries biggest airports are operated by not-for-profit airport authorities. The federal government has been evaluating the possibility of selling these airports to private investors.

According to the new survey, Canadians believe that privatisation of airports would make air travel more expensive and less secure, affecting the overall travel experience.

However, the study shows that most frequent air travellers are slightly more inclined to believe that privatisation would have positive consequences.

The survey highlights that 53% of Canadians think that airport privatisation would be either a bad or a very bad idea, while 26% are more likely to say that they do not know.

Approximately 57% think that selling the eight airports to private sectors would make air travel more expensive, whereas 43% are concerned about security threats.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently said that he prefers to obtain fresh capital to build new infrastructure projects rather than divesting the airports to private sectors, reported Bloomberg News.

However, according to several major Canadian investors, they would prefer to acquire mature assets than provide funds for the development of new projects.