Charlottetown Airport has great 2005

Source: THE GUARDIAN (CHARLOTTETOWN)
Section: News
Page: A1
Byline: Jim Day
Date: 01/11/2006

Air traffic soared in 2005 and that was great news for Charlottetown Airport.

Volume leapt just over 12 per cent to nearly 190,000 passengers heading either to or from the airport, said airport general manager Mike Campbell.

The jump marked the largest percentage increase since 1988 and the largest total passenger volume in nine years.

"This increase bodes very well for the airport, the province and visitors that want easy access to P.E.I.," said Campbell in a statement Tuesday.

"The increase in passengers flying to and from P.E.I. contributes to positive tourism and business growth and to overall economic development in the province."

He said the latter half of 2005 proved to be a real breakthrough for air travel. He said the Charlottetown Airport Authority, working with its partners, was able to convert Jetsgo's insolvency in March into a good news story for P.E.I. by encouraging airlines to add more flights to Charlottetown.

"It's gratifying to see the market respond so well to the new services," said Campbell.

He said all of the Charlottetown Airport's servicing airlines have confirmed and committed to their travel schedules for P.E.I. for 2006. Air Canada Jazz, WestJet and Northwest Airlines will all be flying to the Island again this year.

He is expecting a net increase in flights and seat capacity for the year.

"We are particularly pleased that Air Canada continues to serve P.E.I. year-round with twice daily direct service to Montreal and three flights daily to Halifax; and as the corporation previously indicated, they will be reinstating the daily service to Toronto," said Campbell.

Air Canada will be operating Toronto-Charlottetown flights from April 2 until Oct. 28, with one daily regional jet until June when the schedule will increase to two flights daily until Oct. 8.

The Charlottetown-Montreal service will be two daily flights during the shoulder period from April 2 until May 31, increasing to three daily flights between June 1 and Oct. 28 with a mix of regional jets and Dash equipment.

During the entire period, customers will have the choice of three daily Dash flights to Halifax.

WestJet has continued to provide direct flights to Toronto three days a week over the fall and winter months and as the year progresses is expected to increase service to at least match the service provided in 2005 of daily service to Toronto.

Northwest Airlines, which started daily seasonal jet service from Detroit last year, are planning to start their service three weeks earlier and extend for two weeks beyond last year. That service will be from June 8 to Oct. 20.

Campbell said 2006 has the potential to be even stronger than 2005. "We are expecting our fourth consecutive year of traffic expansion and expect that we will surpass the 200,000 mark for the first time since 1992," he said.