It will take years to recover from pandemic
It'll take years for a pandemic-grounded Calgary International Airport to recover from a devastating 2020, say its operators.
The airport expects even fewer passengers to move through its terminals this year than last — 5.1 million compared with 5.7 million in 2020 — a 68 per cent descent from a record 18 million in 2019.
Last May, the Calgary Airport Authority predicted 6.4 million passengers for 2020.
“The pandemic decimated demand for travel and erased 25 years of passenger growth at YYC,” said Bob Sartor, president and CEO of the Calgary Airport Authority.
“Make no mistake, there is a path to recovery but it will take some time before Canadians are comfortable with travelling again … recovery will not be instantaneous.”
It could take up to 18 months to rebound to 10 million passengers, he said.
A key to recovery, said Sartor, is maximizing the number of airlines flying out of the airport, a figure that plunged dramatically from 21 pre-pandemic to the current eight.
That dropped the number of non-stop destinations served by the airport from 88 to 42.
Even a multibillion-dollar federal government bailout in the form of loans for beleaguered Air Canada announced earlier this week will have a delayed effect on that recovery.
“They will take on that debt and repay it over time,” said Sartor.
“It'll also slow recovery of airports and service providers.”
As well, 80 per cent of the businesses located in the airport have been shuttered in a facility where 50 per cent of the space has been left idle.
Pandemic turbulence also turned a $36-million surplus in 2019 to a $23-million deficit last year, with $68 million more in debt on the airport's books.
And it led to a net revenue loss of $242.5 million for the past year for a facility that's a major economic driver for the city, with its $8-billion pre-pandemic boost.
It's those numbers that forced the airport to lay off one-third of its workforce, or about 80 employees.
The red ink could even force the airport to sell assets, such as buildings “that are not essential for air travel,” said Sartor.
One of the few bright spots, said Sartor, was an 11 per cent increase in cargo flights, boosted by increased e-commerce and the delivery of pandemic-related medical supplies.
And while the airport received a major break in its federal rent, paying just $2 million in 2020 compared with about $45 million the previous year, that break appears to be a one-off, said Sartor.
“We have not received a reprieve for 2021,” he said.
On March 1, the airport's improvement fee increased from $30 to $35 per departing passenger to manage the debt incurred from building its international terminal and newest runway.
There are no plans to further hike that fee or those charged for parking, said the authority.
While aircraft movements fell from 196,000 in 2019 to 85,000 the following year, noise complaints actually increased from 4,600 to 6,500 in 2020, said airport officials.
“That may be because more Calgarians were at home,” said Sartor, adding 60 per cent of those complaints came from three individuals.
The airport also announced a voluntary rapid COVID -19 testing program for staff that will produce results in 20 minutes.
But the airport is nonetheless calling on Ottawa to implement a national airport testing protocol.