The Canadian Government expects to have to renegotiate its bilateral air agreement with Hong Kong as a result of the recent ownership changes in the territory's airlines.
Federal Transport Minister David Anderson said that the changes, which would leave the Chinese holding about 60 per cent of Hong Kong Dragon Airline (Dragonair) and Cathay Pacific about 35 per cent, may require a change in the number of Hong Kong airlines permitted to serve Canada.
Mr Anderson said the existing air services agreement, signed last year, allowed for one Hong Kong airline to serve Canada and two Canadian carriers to fly to the territory.
'There may be a requirement to renegotiate,' Mr Anderson said. 'Who knows whether the new Hong Kong authorities will want to stay with Cathay?' Cathay, led by managing director Rod Eddington, currently flies daily to both Vancouver and Toronto and will launch new services to New York in July via a stop-over in Vancouver.
The new service, which starts at five flights per week increasing to daily in September, means Cathay will have 14 passenger flights a week operating through Vancouver - one of the most popular destinations for Hong Kong migrants.
Cathay also operates all-cargo flights into Canada each week and both Canadian Airlines and Air Canada serve Hong Kong routes.
Mr Anderson's comments follow the April 29 announcement that mainland-backed companies were buying large chunks of the territory's mostly British controlled aviation industry in deals valued at $8.27 billion.
