May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Toronto's Pearson airfield, which generates almost half the revenue that Canada collects from airports, will get less than half the short-term relief offered to smaller facilities under a new policy announced today.

Canadian Transport Minister Jean Lapierre said the plan will save 21 Canadian airports C$8 billion ($6.46 billion) over 58 years and reduce some airport rents by 60 percent.

``This is a good thing for airports in the long run as most airports in Canada will see their rents drop,'' Canadian Airports Council Chief Executive Jim Facette said in an interview. ``In the short term, it does reduce rent for some and for others it does not.''

That's little comfort to the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which blames government rents in part for forcing it to charge some of the world's highest landing fees. The authority will get C$42 million in savings over the next four years, compared with C$90 million for Vancouver and C$114 million for Calgary, according to the government.

``I've been given essentially no relief,'' Greater Toronto Airports Authority Chief Executive John Kaldeway said in an interview. ``I'm extremely disappointed.'' He said he doesn't plan to cut landing or terminal fees levied against airlines.

Pearson's landing fees for a 747-400 aircraft are the second highest after Tokyo's Narita airport, according to figures compiled by researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Pearson's charge for the plane is $8,203, compared with $8,777 at Narita.

``We share the industry's concern that Canada's new airport rent policy offers no short-term relief for an industry that's already burdened by high airport rents,'' said Laura Cooke, spokeswoman for Air Canada, the country's largest airline.

Airports

Airports and airlines have been lobbying the government to reduce rents after a decline in travel due to terrorism, the Iraq war and severe acute respiratory syndrome. Airport rents were established when the government privatized Canada's major airports in the 1990s and granted leases to airport authorities. Airports have been passing on rising rents by charging airlines higher landing fees and terminal charges.

Last year, nine major Canadian airports paid C$286 million in rent to the federal government, with C$130.4 million paid by the GTAA, which handles one-third of the country's air traffic. Toronto will pay C$144 million next year under the reworked policy instead of C$147 million. Vancouver's rent will be C$75 million under the new formula, down from C$81 million.

Under the new plan, airports will pay 12 percent of revenue above C$250 million. Rent on revenue under C$250 million will be based on a lower percentage, with no rent charged on the first C$5 million, the Transport Ministry said. Rents are now based on land values and other considerations.

Toronto's airport served 28.6 million passengers in 2004 and collected C$483.5 million from airlines in landing fees and terminal charges. The airport had C$832 million in total revenue last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Doug Alexander in Toronto at dalexander3@bloomberg.net; Alexandre Deslongchamps in Ottawa at adeslongcham@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 9, 2005 16:59 EDT