Pandemic crisis plunges Calgary airport to 1996-level passenger volumes

The Calgary International Airport had 95 per cent fewer passengers in April because of COVID-19.

Approximately 67,000 guests arrived and departed last month, compared with 1.4 million guests in April 2019.

"Our airport has never seen such a steep decline in its history, and we are projecting 65 per cent fewer guests in 2020 compared to last year," said Calgary Airport Authority vice-president and CFO Rob Palmer in a release.

"We expect YYC will go from a record 18 million passengers in 2019 to approximately 6.4 million in 2020. That's roughly the same passenger volume as we had in 1996."

By contrast, YYC saw a four per cent decrease in passenger activity after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. And the 2008 financial crash resulted in only a 2.5 per cent drop. 

Although passenger volume is down dramatically, air cargo volume has grown substantially.

"In the first three months of 2020, air cargo landings increased by 17 per cent, and we expect that trend to continue as our air cargo partners meet the rising demand of e-commerce and the movement of critical supplies needed for health-care providers," the authority said in a release.  

The airport has enrolled in the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, allowing the return of approximately 80 temporarily laid-off staff to its payroll.

Employees are receiving the maximum benefit of $847 weekly but are not required to return to work. 

About a third of the airport's workforce was laid off at the end of March.

Executive leaders and senior managers took salary reductions, and those will remain in effect for the immediate future

The airport says a recovery to 2019 passenger volumes could take three to five years, or longer.