BIA unaffected by new customs stop in Halifax

BANGOR – Nearly two months after U.S.-bound Canadian travelers began clearing U.S. Customs at the international airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the director of neighboring Bangor International Airport said she has seen no decline in passenger traffic as a result.

But BIA Director Rebecca Hupp said in an interview that a similar arrangement for U.S.-bound European travelers would be a different story.

Halifax International Airport, which handles 3 million passengers a year, began its pre-clearance system on Oct. 4. The system involves stationing at Halifax U.S. Customs agents who then clear Canadian passengers for U.S. entrance.

BIA has not experienced a recognizable decline in air traffic since that date. Approximately 400,000 to 420,000 passengers transit BIA each year.

“I don’t think we lost anything,” Hupp said.

Although granted permission for the system in 2004, Halifax did not begin pre-clearing until October, when it completed a $20 million transborder departure service area.

The arrangement “has opened up opportunities, and it’s just going to grow business between Atlantic Canada and the U.S., and we will all win,” said Jerry Staples, marketing vice president for Halifax International Airport Authority.

The airport’s pre-clearance system provides Halifax passengers with more direct flight options to U.S. destinations, and airlines are now able to offer more appealing departure and arrival times, Staples said.

Hupp said “originating” pre-clearance does not threaten the Bangor market since it simply allows U.S.-bound passengers to clear U.S. Customs in Halifax. Once cleared, the flights are considered domestic.

Staples said, for example, that United Airlines would fly from Halifax to Washington, D.C., in the middle of the day to avoid the long lines waiting to clear customs at the Washington terminal.

Under the new arrangement, United can offer flights in the morning and afternoon, since flights from Halifax now clear domestic gates, Staples said.

The originating pre-clearance does not draw from Bangor’s market sector. Most Atlantic Canadians would not drive to BIA, Hupp said. Most would board at the closest airport and endure a layover to clear U.S. Customs, she said.

When the Halifax airport applied to the U.S. government to start the pre-clearance system, Hupp and others feared the program would simply benefit Halifax and reduce Bangor’s numbers.

“It was entirely appropriate for the city of Bangor to be cautious on this,” said Tim Woodcock, the Bangor lawyer and former city councilor retained by the Halifax airport in 2004. Bangor officials “didn’t want to create a domino effect and have originating pre-clearance move into international clearance.”

That is the more sensitive issue.

Many international flights land in Bangor to process their passengers because of its location. “The fact that we’re the easternmost airport in the U.S. is a huge benefit for us,” Hupp said.

BIA is among a select group of airports authorized to serve as a point of entry to the United States.

So when the Nova Scotia airport sought the authority to pre-clear passengers, Bangor officials formally opposed the extension. Halifax has traditionally been one of BIA’s fiercest competitors.

Although Halifax sought only to clear its own passengers, Bangor officials wanted to ensure it did not serve as a precursor to the Canadian airport stealing Bangor’s international business.

In the legally binding agreement governing the system, Halifax could be fined at least $2,500 for each in-transit flight Halifax cleared through U.S. Customs and Immigration. The fine would go to BIA.

“We played defensive,” said Joe Baldacci, former Bangor mayor and member of the special committee formed to address the pre-clearance issue. “It’s much better for Bangor and Halifax to have an agreement in place than to not.”

Since the agreement, BIA and Halifax airport officials speak quarterly to discuss the regional airline industry, but Hupp said the marketplace will ultimately dictate the ongoing relationship between the two airports.

In July 2002, Pan American Airlines began offering nonstop service between BIA and Saint John, New Brunswick, but the carrier discontinued the route after about a year because of low demand.

“To this point there have been no tangible gains for Bangor [as a result of the Halifax relationship], but we continue to work together,” Hupp said.