Airport passenger traffic at 71% of pre-pandemic levels

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This article was published 26/07/2022 (1259 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The number of passengers through the Winnipeg Richardson Airport is slowly getting back to normal.

During the second quarter of this year it was at just about at three quarters the volume it was before the pandemic and is expected to continue to rise.

Passenger traffic in the second quarter — from April until the end of June — at the Winnipeg airport were at 71 per cent of second quarter 2019 levels, with 775,000 passengers through the terminal.

And while there have been plenty of stories about lost bags in Winnipeg, the frustrating stories about cancelled and delayed flights have not been as frequent in Winnipeg as has been the case elsewhere.

Nick Hays, the CEO of the Winnipeg Airports Authority, said line-ups at security and for customs clearance have been normal, unlike the mayhem reported at the major airports that serve as airline hubs, like Toronto’s Pearson Airport.

“Queue times going through screening and customs are similar now to pre-pandemic levels,” Hays said. “That is just one metric. This is an industry challenge. It is very important that we all work together.”

Hays said the general expectation is that the trend towards increasing passenger count will continue but, he said, without a crystal ball it’s impossible to predict when they will return to normal.

On the cargo side, the pandemic did not slow the growth in that sector where both tonnage and cargo flights hit their second highest quarterly numbers since 2017. (There were 1,209 cargo plane landings in Winnipeg in the third quarter of 2021 — one more than during this past quarter – and the gross takeoff weight of cargo planes this quarter was 120,361 tonnes, 7,000 tonnes less than the July-to-September last year.)

Hays believes the $62-million multi-tenant air cargo logistics facility now in development will further enhance the growth of the cargo business.

The 150,000-square-foot facility and rehabilitation of cargo aprons near the new building will allow for enhanced capacity with parking of greater number of larger aircraft at one time for loading/unloading with the aircraft to position themselves in a way that will save time, aircraft handling and optimize hub operations.

The facility will be built at the current site of the Air Canada air cargo building which is in the process of being demolished.

Winnipeg has long positioned itself for increasing cargo traffic including maintaining 24/7 operations.

The growth in e-commerce has had a lot to do with the increased cargo volumes and Hayes believe there is no reason to think that trend will not continue.

He said the airport is also pursuing other air cargo opportunities.

“The growth we are seeing in cargo traffic re-affirms our commitment to doing this project,” Hays said in reference to the multi-tenant air cargo logistics facility. “We think it will be a really important investment and help set up Winnipeg for economic growth going forward.”

While passenger and cargo traffic is going up, the destinations Winnipeggers can travel to non-stop is not increasing.

Last fall United Airlines announced that it would not be resuming its previous flights between Winnipeg and Chicago and Winnipeg and Denver that had been suspended during the pandemic.

Hays, who was appointed CEO of the WAA in February, said he understands that greater connectivity to U.S. destinations is something that Winnipeg travellers want to see more of.

“It is a high priority for us when discussing route developments and airline services development with our airline partners,” said Hays.

But he said there was no indication if or when United will continue that service. Previously United told the Free Press that it would be maintaining the ongoing suspension of service to Winnipeg that’s been in place since April 2020 but will continue to review the market through 2022.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.cs