Pandemic continues to take toll on local air travel industry

Passenger numbers at the Prince George Airport were down a staggering 78% in the first quarter compared to last year.

However, Prince George Aiport Authority President and CEO Gordon Duke says even with the decline, the airport is faring relatively well compared to other regional airports across the country.

“For us at YXS, we are a little bit insulated in terms of the essential workplace travel that goes on, so when we look across the country most airports are down 85-95%,” he explained.

7,831 passengers made their way through the airport in January, followed by 6,834 in February and 7,393 passengers in March.

“We are seeing that Prince George and other Northern airports, because of our reliance on the resource sector is leading to that essential travel in greater numbers than an airport that relies on tourism,” he noted.

Recently, the PGAA received $720,000 in funding from the provincial government to support airport operations.

The funding was part of a one-time investment of $16.5 million allocated to 55 regional airports across BC to support operations between April 1st, 2021 to March 31st, 2022.

Duke says the funding will provide supports for some of the essential services provided by YXS.

“It will ensure the airport is safe and secure for the essential users out there, YXS has a busy Medi-vac operation right now, and the wildfire-fighting tanker base is here and both of those are key to providing services in the North,” Duke noted.

Meanwhile, YXS is adding some more routes to their schedule, with Flair Airlines returning for the summer and in June WestJet will be adding a new route from PG to Abbotsford.

Central Mountain Air also added new weekly flights to communities across the province.

Despite the addition, the PGAA President is still expecting similar numbers for the summer and isn’t expecting the air travel industry to rebound until the third and fourth quarter this year.