From Hicks on Six
ANOTHER LANGUAGE AT THE AIRPORT
There's an unfamiliar language coming over the public address system at Edmonton International Airport.
Listen closely. There's lots of "ha's" and rolled r's. It's Spanish!
Another step on Edmonton's journey towards internationalism.
Air Mexicana is here. Flight No. 875 leaves Edmonton three days a week at 8:20 a.m., arriving almost six hours later, non-stop, in Mexico City. (The other four days, the solid 120-passenger Airbus 319 does the Calgary-Mexico City route.)
NO MORE ALL-DAY, ALL-NIGHT TRAVEL
The inaugural flight left yesterday morning. On board, with some other 80 passengers, were folks involved with tourism and business promotion, whose job it is to spread the word about business opportunities and tourism - both ways - between Edmonton and Mexico. People like Edmonton Economic Development Corporation president Ron Gilbertson, Edmonton Tourism's Ken Fiske, chamber of commerce and World Trade Centre Edmonton president Marty Salloum.
The "pioneers" - the members of the city's Latino community who've lived in northern Alberta for years - are delighted. It used to take Susana Runge and Beatriz Kelly of the Mexican Cultural Society of Edmonton 12 to 14 hours to fly home for a visit.
Now that time is halved. Get on a plan, have a snooze, watch a movie, eat, catch up with a few magazines and then ... you're in Mexico City. From there, late afternoon flights depart for all of Mexico's tourism areas and the major cities of South America.
FOREIGN WORKERS
There are some interesting understated reasons that this flight could become a fixture for many, many years.
Foreign Worker programs set up by the provincial and federal governments to alleviate Alberta labour shortages are just getting underway. Not a day goes by when you don't hear of a spa manufacturer, or a manufactured home maker, or a fast-food chain, bringing in Mexican or Filipino workers who, in a few years' time, will have a chance to apply to become landed immigrants.
Something tells me a good 40% of this flight will be Mexicans on those programs going back and forth, and their family coming north to see what Canada is all about.
MUCH EASIER TO VISIT
Another implicit reason for Air Mexicana to spread its wings, now flying into five Canadian cities non-stop from Mexico City.
Mexicans often get hassled at airport customs when going through the United States. "You can usually count on an extra hour or two getting through American customs," says Mexicana customer service V.P. Adolfo Crespo, accompanying the Edmonton group on the flight.
It's understandable. With millions of illegal Mexicans working in the U.S., Yankee border guards and customs folks are a bit touchy.
Mexican tourists can fly to Edmonton to holiday with no more hassles than any Canadian. They don't need a visa to come to Canada. And Canadians flying to Mexico don't need a visa or a passport.
Return tickets on this flight run around $600 - comparable to charters.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Having just arrived - hopping on a small bus from the airport to our hotel here in Mexico City, some first impressions.
The extreme poverty of about 10 years ago is gone. "That was one legacy of the past Vicente Fox government," says Crespo. "There's still poverty, of course, but extreme street poverty has been reduced by some 40%."
Mexico, a country of 105 million, has made great strides. The population of Greater Mexico City, for instance, has stabilized at around 22 million for several years. Like China, Mexico has become a low-cost assembler of goods destined for the U.S., creating more jobs.
Not to be discounted are the numerous Mexicans working in the U.S. and sending money back home. It all counts.
"We still need a bigger middle class," suggests Crespo. "Of the population, about 5% (or six million people) are using air transport." But that number will keep on growing.
More on Mexico tomorrow.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Columnists/Hicks_Graham/2008/06/03/5763766-sun.html
Prev
Linear Mode
