加拿大逾万人网上请愿，呼吁增飞加中航班

【天时周刊加拿大讯】自2023年10月4日，加拿大安大略省民在Change.org上发起在线请愿，呼吁加拿大联邦政府增加中国和加拿大之间客运航班以来，至今已有超过13,900人签署支持。

该请愿书的标题是“呼吁联邦政府恢复加拿大与中国之间的常态航空旅行”，直接针对加拿大总理贾斯汀·特鲁多、国会议员和加拿大政府代表。请愿发起者表达了对中—加之间航空航班数量大幅减少的深切关注。

请愿书中写道：“我们强烈敦促加拿大政府与中国政府进行外交对话和谈判，以解决当前的挑战，并努力尽快恢复两国之间的正常航空旅行。”

自新冠疫情发生以来，两国之间的航空旅行困难重重，很多旅行者只能望洋兴叹。

目前，中加两国七家航空公司，每周执飞10个直达客运航班。其中加拿大航空4个航班，中国的国航、东航、南航、海航、川航、厦航各有1个航班，分別从温哥华国际机场（YVR）和多伦多皮尔逊国际机场（YYZ）出发。

2019年夏季時，两国之间的直飞客运航班，每周超过100个航次。这意味着目前的航班数量仅为正常情况下的十分之一。

在温哥华经营旅游生意20多年的托尼·尹 (Tony Yin)表示：“航班的减少意味着可供旅客选择的座位減少，物以稀为贵，由此导致机票价格提高。”

他表示，目前飞往中国的经济舱航班費用是2019年所支付价格的三倍。“许多人非常沮丧，”他继续说道，“他們不得不推迟旅行，或减少两国之间的旅行频率。这对游客来说很困难，对我们旅游经营者来说就更困难。”

卑诗省民王立 (Ally Wang) ，在中断了近四年的回家探亲旅行之后，最近终于帶着孩子回囯了一趟。为了便宜机票，她选择了第三地转机的航班。在到达最终目的地之前，她必须停靠两站。“路上我们花了超过24小时才能到家。过去，直飞航班通常只需要12个小时。真的好累！”

一位不愿透露姓名的人士，早年在加拿大上学並工作过，現在驻上海某加拿大官方机构工作。“我好想回去看看老师，老同学和老朋友。但是現在机票太贵了，还是再等等看吧。”

该在线请愿由加拿大安大略省列治文山市的李姓居民（J. Li）发起。请愿书写道：“重新建立航班连接不仅可以缓解加拿大华裔所面临的困难，还可以为加拿大的多元文化结构做出积极贡献，增强两国之间的相互理解与合作。”

最后，请愿书写道：“我们恳请加拿大联邦政府立即关注此事并采取行动，倡导家庭团聚的人权、文化交流和国际合作。”

(半张，温哥华）

以下是英文版：

Petition Over 13,900 Signatories, Crying for More Flights between Canada and China

An online petition crying for more regular passenger flights between Canada and China has reached 13,900 signatories since it started on October 4, 2023, on Change.org.

With the headline “Restore Regular Air Travel between Canada and China”, the petition was addressed directly to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Members of Parliament, and Representatives of the Canadian Government to express the petition starters’ deep concern regarding the significant reduction of air flights between Canada and China.

“We strongly urge the government to engage in diplomatic dialogues and negotiations with the Chinese government to resolve the prevailing challenges and work towards restoring regular air travel between the two countries as soon as possible,” written in the petition.

Air travel between the two countries has become a mission inaccessible since the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, both countries’ airlines operate passenger direct flights at 10 flights a week, including four flights by Air Canada, one flight each by Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, and Xiamen Airlines from both Vancouver’s YVR and Toronto’s YYZ airports.

In summer 2019, the number of flights between the two countries was operated at over 100 flights a week. This means the current flight numbers are only at one-tenth of the regular level in a normal situation.

“The reduction of flights makes fewer seats available to travellers, and makes it more expensive for the tickets,” says Tony Yin, a tourism operator for over 20 years in Vancouver.

He says economy-class flights to China are costing his clients three times the price they paid in 2019. “Many people are very frustrated,” he continued, “and have to postpone their travels or reduce the frequency of travels between the two countries. This makes it hard for travellers, and even harder for our tourism business operators.”

Ally Wang recently travelled back to China after nearly four years of putting the family visit on hold. To get a cheaper air ticket, she chose a non-direct flight. She had to make two stops before getting to the final destination. “I have to spend over 24 hours to get there one way. In the past, it was normally 12 hours of direct flight. I was so tired.”

A person, who doesn’t want to be unnamed, studied and worked in Canada in her early years and now works for a Canadian official agency in Shanghai. "I really want to go back and see my profs, classmates and friends. But the air tickets are too expensive now, so I'd better wait and see."

The online petition was started by J. Li based in Richmond Hill, Canada, who writes that “re-establishing flight connectivity will not only alleviate the hardships faced by Canadians of Chinese descent but also contribute positively to the multicultural fabric of Canada, enhancing mutual understanding and cooperation between our two nations.”

Finally, the petition concludes that “we humbly request the prompt attention and action of the Canadian federal government in this matter, advocating for the human rights of family reunion, cultural connection, and international collaboration.”

Change.org is a website that allows public users to create and sign petitions to advance various social causes by raising awareness and influencing decision-makers.

The site is operated by a San Francisco-based for-profit technology company. It claims to have nearly 526 million users and to achieve 93,373 victories in 196 countries as of January 2024.

(Ban Zhang is a Vancouver-based writer.)