Winnipeg airport reaching new heights of recovery

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This article was published 25/10/2022 (1112 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s airport is flying to new heights of recovery.

The travel hub marked its busiest three months — July through September — since the pandemic’s beginning, according to the Winnipeg Airports Authority.

“It’s just a reaffirmation of people’s desire to get out there, see the world, see friends,” said Nick Hays, the organization’s president.

This last quarter, 955,467 people travelled through Winnipeg Richardson International Airport, a 23 per cent jump from April through June 2022, the previous record-breaking quarter since the pandemic, a WAA release states.

“I think the rebound has been faster than we expected,” Hays said.

The airport is tracking a return to 2019 traffic levels in 2024, he said.

“Pre-pandemic, we typically welcome more than 1 million passengers each quarter at YWG,” Michel Rosset, the WAA’s communications manager, noted in an email.

This summer’s number of travellers represent 78 per cent of those who visited the airport during the same time in 2019.

A return to pre-pandemic finances will not come in 2024 — it will take longer, Hays said.

“(It’s) simply because of the level of debt that we had to accrue during the pandemic,” he said.

The airport made positive gains last quarter: the WAA reported a consolidated revenue of $38 million, up 34 per cent from the same period in 2021.

Earnings before interest, depreciation and taxes hit $18 million this summer, compared to earnings from the same time periods in 2021, 2020 and 2019 of $11 million, $2.6 million and $18.5 million, respectively.

“We’re really excited about that forward momentum,” Hays said.

He highlighted the new direct flight from Winnipeg to Los Angeles, which WestJet announced this summer.

“We think that’s going to significantly enhance the community’s connectivity,” he said.

The path to Hollywood, a rollback of pandemic-era restrictions and the return of sun-destination routes should draw travellers, the WAA stated in its Tuesday release.

The airport’s cargo sector also continues to get busier.

It recorded its third straight quarter of increased activity. This summer, 1,214 cargo planes landed at Winnipeg’s airport. The planes’ gross takeoff weight, an indicator of demand, was 121,065 tons.

The Winnipeg Airports Authority is building a $62 million air cargo facility. Hays previously told the Free Press he believes the 150,000-square-foot facility will enhance the growth of the airport’s cargo business.

It’s too early to say how the final months of 2022 will compare to those of years past, according to Hays.

Winnipeg Richardson International Airport had seen 2,160,774 travellers in 2022, as of September’s end. The number has already surpassed the year-end totals for 2020 and 2021, which saw 1,299,225 and 1,223,054 passengers, respectively.

The airport attracted the most travellers, 4,484,343, in 2018 — 94 more than 2019.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com