The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Stanfield’s cargo business flies high
Halifax airport sees bright spot amid pandemic
The air cargo business at Halifax Stanfield International Airport is taking off.
The airport authority is reluctant to compare this year to last year, says Marie Manning, vice-president of business development and chief commercial officer, “because 2020 is not a good comparison, for obvious reasons.”
When contrasted with 2019, “our cargo activity to the end of March is up around 25 to 30 per cent,” Manning said.
“We see a lot more aircraft coming in and there are a number of reasons for that. First of all, we have the capacity to handle more aircraft right now.”
The decision a few years ago by the authority to improve its cargo handling facilities, through the creation of an air cargo logistics park, is paying off.
“As of last December, we have three new aprons that have opened,” said Manning, referring to the area where cargo aircraft park for loading and unloading.
“And since that time, we've seen all three aprons occupied at once. So, clearly the demand is there and it's being utilized at this time.”
The air cargo logistics park is costing $36 million to build. When it is finished later this year, it will provide added warehouse space and specialized cold storage facilities.
The new aprons are designed to accommodate large cargo aircraft, such as a 747400 freighter, Manning said during a phone interview.
“One of those is large enough to carry the same amount of cargo as five transport trucks.”
Two more aprons are under construction, and once those are ready, the airport will have space to handle eight cargo freighters simultaneously.
FEW TRAVELLERS
Passenger traffic has dropped off about 90 per cent over the past year, so the uptick in cargo business is considered helpful to the airport's bottom line and the local economy.
It doesn't generate the same kind of revenue as the passenger business, but improved cargo numbers do meet one of the authority's goals as a facilitator of economic activity for Halifax, the province and the Atlantic region, Manning said.
During the pandemic, there has been an increase in online commercial activity, which requires parcel shipments, which has meant an increase in cargo shipments.
“We're seeing local manufacturers looking for raw materials coming in in some of these large aircraft, as well,” said Manning.
“And from an outbound perspective . . . we're seeing lots of seafood exports going all over the world, and so that's driving a lot of the increased traffic.”
One of the longest longhaul flights is by a Korean Airlines cargo plane, which comes to Halifax to pick up lobster and seafood for delivery to markets in Asia.
“We are seeing an increased number of freighters coming through here, as well, for crew changes. It's very interesting, we have one airline that started up a year or so ago and, because of our low (COVID-19) case numbers here in Nova Scotia, they've positioned crews here,” Manning said.
“So, they're coming from Europe and they stop here, they'll take the opportunity to pick up and drop off cargo, at the same time they have (replacement) crews here because it is safer. Previous to COVID, they would have gone directly to New York
and they would have crews positioned there.”
POST-COVID
Manning said the airport is determined to keep the airlines stopping here after the pandemic ends.
One frequent traveller, who keeps a close eye on the activity at Stanfield, wrote to me this week saying he was impressed by the amount of cargo business coming through Halifax.
He said he had noticed one or two flights a day by British Airways landing in Halifax, and flights from Chicago, Alaska, Mexico and Germany are making Halifax a popular stop.
“Someone is doing something correctly at the airport to direct this level of international travel for cargo/charters,” he concluded.