The business has shrunk considerably for Halifax’s airport during the novel coronavirus pandemic and it’s not expected to get better anytime soon.
On Tuesday fewer than 20 planes were scheduled to arrive at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. The same number of flights were initially scheduled to depart on Tuesday, although two were scrapped before take off.
That’s 60 per cent fewer flights than last July, although it’s a small improvement over previous months where there was an 80 to 90 per cent decrease in flights compared to the same period in 2019.
“In April and May we had 97 percent fewer passengers than the year previous,” said Leah Batstone, a communications officer for the Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA).
International flights, including those from the United States, have not run since mid-March when the federal government restricted international flights to just four airports in Canada: Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver, in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
While many industries are now reopening, Canadians are still being encouraged not to leave the country and anyone entering Nova Scotia from outside the Atlantic bubble is required to self-isolate for 14 days.
Those are all having an impact on air travel.
“So that’s quite the contrast to the 11,000 we would typically see on a regular day in 2019.”
While things have slowly improved each month since March, the airport is not expecting travel to return to 2019 levels until 2024 — something that will severely impact the airport’s bottom line.
In a statement, the HIAA says it has implemented extensive measures to reduce their operating costs, cut budgets, curtail capital spending, and access financial support to address a significant financial gap.
In June the HIAA cut its workforce by 25 per cent.
“Unfortunately, these cost reductions were insufficient and we were faced with reducing our workforce, which is made up of approximately 225 permanent union and non-union positions,” the statement reads.
Halifax’s airport is not the only one struggling, with airports across the country in similar positions.
Officials with Moncton’s airport have confirmed that if things continue the way they are, they will run out of money by early 2021.
Even Canada’s largest airport, which is one of the few with international arrivals and departures, is making cuts.
On Tuesday, Deborah Flint, the president and CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which operates Pearson Airport, announced 500 job cuts.
In Halifax, there is hope that opening the provincial border to the rest of the country will provide some increased travel, although no date has been set for when that would happen.
Canada’s borders remain closed to international travellers until at least July 31, and to American travelers until July 21, although that closure is expected to be extended for at least another month.