Winnipeg’s James Richardson International Airport is gearing up for its busiest season of the year in the next two months.
The Winnipeg Airport Authority’s Tyler MacAffee told 680CJOB a combination of summer vacations and construction projects in the airport may end up creating more traffic and longer lines — but it shouldn’t be anything they can’t handle.
“Runway construction’s continuing, that’s going to wrap up end of August, early September, so that’ll be back into operation and that will be a great thing for the airport,” said MacAffee.
The airport started construction on Runway 13/31 in April, and in the meantime, Runway 18/36 is being used for all flights.
“We’ve got a ground service equipment building as well that’s going up right now, $27 million investment we made, it’s kind of going to relocate some people and allow us to redevelop some of our cargo areas.
The airport will also see an upgrade to their baggage system and new retail options in the coming months.
“To ensure the safety and security of passengers travelling through Winnipeg Richardson International Airport, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, together with the airport, have begun to renovate our baggage handling system and up-gauge it to handle increased volumes,” the WAA said in a statement.
In the meantime, passenger numbers will grow this summer.
“We certainly see spikes, sort of that March break period, Christmastime, but for us the busiest two months of the year are typically July and August,” said MacAffee.
“Airlines do add a few extra people when they need to. The airport’s built to move people. So when you just see those same flights coming in at maybe 85 per cent capacity this time of year, they may be up 90, 95 per cent.
“But it doesn’t really have a big impact on the operations of the airport.”