Halifax airport adding non-stop flights to Vancouver and London's Heathrow

Halifax Stanfield International Airport still isn't operating at full capacity, but with more flights being added this summer, the authority says things are looking up.

Leah Batstone, the airport authority's communications and marketing advisor, said although Halifax airport's passenger traffic is still down by 60 to 70 per cent, more flights are expected to be added this summer. 

"We're feeling very optimistic here at Halifax Stanfield with the easing of some border measures provincially and federally," said Batstone.

"We're starting to see and hear from airlines, that they're announcing their summer schedules and reintroducing some of that service that we lost during the pandemic."

Batstone said that includes flights to Europe, the U.S., the Caribbean and Mexico.

Starting April 30, people will be able to fly directly from Halifax to Heathrow Airport in London.

Beginning May 1, Air Canada will offer a new non-stop flight between Halifax and Vancouver International Airport, with service up to five times weekly.

"We're very excited to have that connection from the West [Coast] to East Coast, for our community and for tourism, and of course the business community," said Batstone.

Boston route restarting in June

Batstone said Air Canada will also be restarting their service to Boston in June, a route she says is usually in high demand.

She said it's easier to enter the northeastern United States from the Halifax airport because it has the U.S. pre-clearance facility, which allows people to clear customs before entering the U.S..

Joann Fitzgerald, chief marketing officer with Tourism Nova Scotia, said they are excited to see more flights being restored.

"Prior to the pandemic, Nova Scotia saw more than 25,000 visitors each year from the U.K., and we're looking forward to seeing them back and helping bring those numbers up as the the air capacity returns," said Fitzgerald.

She said tourists from the U.K. on average spend $3,300 per trip between entertainment, accommodations and restaurant visits.

"It really does make a difference ... 25,000 of them spending $3,300 is a lot of money coming into the province," she said.

In 2019, the estimated provincial tourism revenue was $2.6 billion, said Fitzgerald. In 2020, tourism revenues were estimated to be down by about $1.6 billion, and 2021 results are not expected to be much different from 2020.

Fitzgerald said the road to recovery has been challenging.

"We saw improvement 2021 over 2020 and there's no doubt in my mind for 2022, we'll see ... that hockey stick kind of going up and improving, because people just want to get out there."

Batstone said although they're happy to see more people returning to travel, they anticipate it will likely take years for the airport to return to pre-pandemic levels.

"We're very optimistic, but do anticipate there could be some future bumps along the way."