Thats a funcion of competition. AC has to factor in the fact that many residents of those countries will simply fly elsewhere for less. Europe is well-located. Why would you insist on coming to Canada if you could go virtually anywhere else in the world for less. The end result is that AC has to be price sensitive otherwise people simply won't come to Canada as a whole.

From Canada, its a different tale. We have to fly Air Canada. Competition on most major routes is limited to just one other airline, with more than a hint of collusion. AC and AF have nearly identical fuel surcharges, for example. They want to keep EK out so that they can keep an iron grip on Canadian fliers who have to fly to FRA or LHR or CDG or occassionally VIE or ZRH to get to Africa and South/Central/Southeast Asia. AC's fear has always been that EK will redirect this traffic away from FRA etc. That will force them to be competitive and these fuel and other surcharges will have to start dropping. That'll put Air Canada in a real mess.

Its essentially a private sector company thats based on a flawed model. They can't afford their employees salaries and pensions, so they re taxing us - in the form of NAVCAN surcharges. Their entire corporate team can be described in two words: welfare recipients. The flying staff and mx are a little better - at least they re productive and deliver a real product.