Order No. 2000-A-246

July 7, 2000

File Nos. M4211/S331-3
M4211/S331-5-1

Under Licence No. 975089, Astral Aviation, Inc. doing business as Skyway Airlines (hereinafter the Licensee) is authorized to operate a scheduled international service in accordance with the Air Transport Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America (hereinafter the Agreement).

Condition No. 1 of the said licence states that:

The Licensee is authorized to operate a scheduled international service between points in Canada and points in the United States of America, excluding services to/from the point Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the "transition phase" as set out in Annex V of the Agreement.

Under Licence No. 975090, the Licensee is authorized to operate a scheduled international service in accordance with the Agreement. Condition Nos. 1 and 2 of the said licence state that:

The Licensee is authorized to serve the points:

a) Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A. and Toronto, Ontario, Canada;

b) Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.A. and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

2. While operating the scheduled international service authorized herein, the Licensee is restricted in its operations to the use of fixed wing aircraft type-certificated as capable of carrying no more than 60 passengers and having a maximum payload capacity of no more than 18,000 pounds.

Section 1 of Annex 1 of the Agreement provides that:

Designated airlines of Canada and designated airlines of the United States have the unlimited right to perform passenger/combination scheduled international air transportation to and from any point in the territory of Canada to and from any point in the territory of the United States with no restrictions as to capacity, frequency, and aircraft size, subject to uniform and non-discriminatory regulations not inconsistent with Article 15 of the Chicago Convention. Airlines may, at their option, combine two or more points in the territory of the other Party in a through service carrying no local passengers or cargo between points in the territory of the other Party.

Section 1 of Annex V of the Agreement with respect to the transition phase provides that:

The transition phase shall begin on the date this Agreement enters into force and shall end one year from that date in respect of all-cargo services, two years from that date in respect of passenger/combination services at Montréal and Vancouver and three years from that date in respect of passenger/combination services at Toronto. During the transition phase only, the provisions of this Annex shall apply...

Further, paragraph G of Annex V of the Agreement provides that:

With effect from the third anniversary of the entry into force of this Agreement, the transition phase shall terminate and the passenger/combination route authorities of the airlines of the United States shall be as set forth in Section 1 of Annex 1.

On February 24, 1998, this transition phase terminated. As a result, all United States Licensees holding scheduled international licences are now authorized to operate scheduled international services between any point in the United States of America and any point in Canada.

The Canadian Transportation Agency (hereinafter the Agency) has considered the matter and, pursuant to subsection 71(1) of the Canada Transportation Act, S.C. 1996, c. 10 (hereinafter the CTA), deems it to be consistent with the Agreement to amend Condition No. 1 of Licence No. 975089.

Accordingly, the Agency, pursuant to subsection 71(1) of the CTA, hereby amends Condition No. 1 of Licence No. 975089 as set out below.

1. The Licensee is authorized to operate a scheduled international service between points in the United States of America and points in Canada.

A new document of licence, bearing Licence No. 975089, will be issued.

As a result, Licence No. 975090 is redundant and is therefore cancelled.