The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Optimism finally in the air
Resumption of flights encouraging news for Sydney airport
SYDNEY — Things are looking up for travellers looking to fly in and out of Cape Breton.
Passenger counts at the J.A. Douglas Mccurdy Sydney Airport have been better than expected since some flights resumed in late June and early July, while Air Canada is set to restore its daily service between Sydney and Halifax on Tuesday.
That’s encouraging news for airport CEO Mike Mackinnon, who is well-acquainted with the negative effects of the pandemic.
“The seat capacity and the flight frequency is not back to where it would normally be at this time of year, but it’s certainly much better than we thought it would be when things started coming back earlier this summer,” said Mackinnon, who spent much of the past 18 months in an empty airport with the exception of a three-month window when Westjet flew in and out of Sydney from October 2020 until Jan. 11, 2021, when it once again shut down that service.
“I’ve been hearing the same thing from most of the airports that I talk to in my meetings. There is still a lot of work to do but the way things have played out the past two months is an encouraging sign.”
Essentially grounded by the pandemic, the Sydney airport kicked back into business in late June when Air Canada resumed its service to Toronto with four flights per week. That eventually became a daily flight that joined Westjet’s daily Halifax service and Air Canada’s daily schedule to Montréal on the arrivals and departures screens at the airport.
Yet, business remains well below pre-pandemic levels as travellers are still limited in their choice of destinations. But, according to Mackinnon, passenger options are increasing.
“There is good air service for our community because you can travel to Toronto and Montreal and connect anywhere across Canada and the world, while we also have the flights to Halifax that provide the provincial links that we need.”
Mackinnon said one category of traveller that has been on the rise is what he calls VFRS, industry jargon for visiting family and friends.
“That’s a huge market, and we believe there is a huge pentup demand for travel by people who haven’t seen family or friends since before the pandemic,” he said.
“We’re seeing lots of people going somewhere to visit family and friends or coming here to visit family and friends.”
One target market that remains unknown is the business traveller. Mackinnon said the scope of business travel has been difficult to ascertain as it has always been much less busy in the summer. He acknowledged its future remains uncertain.
“It will be interesting to see if people continue to be involved in virtual meetings or will they go back to face-to-face meetings and conferences and conventions again,” Mackinnon said.
“It’s those things that drive business traffic, and business traffic is huge for the airlines and for us.”
Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Kathleen Yurchesyn said what’s good for the airport is good for all of Cape Breton.
“When the airport closed down it was a big wake-up call for our community,” said Yurchesyn, whose chamber was involved last year in organizing a petition that called on the federal government to financially support the Sydney airport during its hiatus from normal operations.
“It showed us the reality of the pandemic and it made us wonder what our community might look like without an airport. We lobbied the airlines to make sure we were on their list when things started to return and now we see the flights being reinstated.
“Having access to major airports like Montreal and Toronto are very important to an airport like ours because they allow us to connect with the rest of the world and the rest of the world to connect to us. It’s important that the rest of the world has access to us.”
Yurchesyn said the airport’s ongoing return to normalcy is reflective of what’s been going on in Cape Breton.
“This community has a lot of momentum right now and there is a swell of optimism,” she said.
“A lot of eyes are on our island in terms of what post-pandemic looks like, and our airport is an incredibly important asset that is needed to reach that potential.”
The Sydney airport started as an airstrip for a local flying club in 1929. It was used by the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War and became licensed as a passenger airport in 1947. It is located off the Sydney-glace Bay highway.