EDMONTON – The Edmonton International Airport (EIA) experienced the busiest year in its history in 2013 according to its numbers.
“We’re very close to our 7 million mark, and that’s definitely a record for us, so we are excited about it,” said EIA’s Director of Communications, Heather Hamilton.
EIA is reporting it served a record 6,983,000 passengers which is 306,000 more than in 2012.
“It is a huge amount. For 2012, we were the fastest-growing airport in Canada. There’s a good chance we’ll see that again,” said Hamilton. “For us to have that jump this year is really exciting. We are happy with those numbers.”
The airport breaks down the numbers from January 1 to December 31, 2013:
· Domestic: 5,312,226 = 4% growth
· US Transborder: 1,264,796 = 7.7% growth
· International: 406,207 = 3.4% growth
· Overall: 6,983,229 = 4.6% growth
“These record-breaking numbers show that Edmonton International Airport completed its expansion just in time,” said EIA Vice President of Passenger Market Development Traci Bednard. “To foster economic growth, both air service and our airport facilities must keep pace with demand from our region.”
“The more passengers you have, the more flights you have,” added Hamilton, “the more flights, the more passengers. We are definitely starting to see some momentum in that with new flights like New York, Dallas, Fort Worth coming in. We are just starting to get the critical mass that attracts airlines, and of course new flights attract new passengers… They are feeding each other at this point.”
EIA says in addition to its regular airline passenger service, corporate charter flights from its private terminals increased by 30 per cent in 2013, to nearly 26,000 landings.