The President and CEO of the Prince George Airport Authority said it’s a welcomed sight that Ottawa is considering a massive bailout program for the airline industry.
However, Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau said the program will only become a reality if service providers agree to refund all passengers who saw their flights cancelled due to the pandemic.
Gord Duke is of the opinion a financial package should be offered without condition.
“I think the help for airports should be coming regardless. The airlines that we feel that this will be a valuable step and if the government can get them to come to the table and do that, it’s going to help the sector I believe.”
Garneau also ensured customers and regional communities will be able to retain air connections to the rest of Canada, much to the delight of Duke.
“We’re hopeful that this will lead to stabilizing the airlines and the flights in and out of Prince George to make sure that all of our stakeholders get the service they need, that it is an essential service for regional airports.”
Passenger loads have dropped by as much as 90 percent since the pandemic began in Canada, and airlines have been cancelling routes to lower-priority destinations.
Duke mentioned the most recent passenger numbers at YXS are slightly better but is still a tough pill to swallow.
“We are at 72 to 75% less than where we were in 2019 and that’s for August and September. We feel October numbers will be similar and we think we’re in a plateau where we will some small growth but it’s going to be a tough go for the next year or so.”
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