Halifax Stanfield served 3,908,799 passengers in 2016, making it the busiest year in the airport’s history.
“We had a tremendously successful year thanks to our passengers and to the support of our entire airport community, as well as government and stakeholders,” says Joyce Carter, HIAA President & CEO.
“Compared to the previous year, our 2016 passenger numbers were up 5.6%. We are set to hit four million passengers in 2017 and we look forward to achieving this milestone.”
The largest segment of air service traffic was in the domestic sector. Domestic traffic represented about 84% of all traffic and was up by 7.4% over 2015 (3,268,485 passengers). Contributing to this strong increase: WestJet’s four times weekly summer service to Winnipeg and Vancouver, WestJet Encore’s full year of operation with six additional daily flights, the launch of NewLeaf service to Hamilton, and Air Canada adding seat capacity to Montreal and Toronto.
Transborder activity represented approximately 8% of all traffic and was down slightly by 1.9% to 326,602 passengers. Positives in 2016 were WestJet’s new daily service to Boston, additional seat capacity to Florida by Air Canada and WestJet in the winter season, and WestJet’s addition of weekly year round service to Orlando. However, these gains were offset by the loss of both seat capacity and frequency reduction by US carriers, American Airlines, Delta, and United.
The international sector, which also represents about 8% of all traffic, was down by 4.2% to 313,712 passengers. This was mainly due to the loss of both WestJet’s winter service to Punta Cana and Air Transat’s summer service to London Gatwick and Punta Cana.
“In 2017, we will remain committed to growth and development of air services,” says Bert van der Stege, HIAA Vice President, Business Development and Chief Commercial Officer. “We will focus on participating with airlines, industry and tourism agencies; pursuing new market opportunities in Europe, Asia and the United States; and promoting our advantages as Atlantic Canada’s air gateway.”
Air cargo also saw substantial growth last year. In 2016, 33,329 metric tonnes of cargo was processed, up 4.1% over 2015. Much of that cargo was live lobster. In fact, an estimated $187 million in seafood and lobster exports were shipped from Halifax Stanfield in 2016 up approximately $40 million from 2015. As demand for lobster and seafood continues to grow, especially to Asia, Halifax Stanfield is poised for continuing growth in seafood exports.
In 2016, Halifax Stanfield was served by 18 scheduled and charter passenger airlines flying to 45 non-stop destinations. The airport served an average of 180 flights each day to various points within Canada, the United States, Europe, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Destinations
Halifax Stanfield enjoys the best winter escape plan in the Atlantic region with direct service to multiple sun destinations in Florida, Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Mexico provided by Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat, and Sunwing.
Halifax Stanfield offers the most domestic service to and from the Atlantic region with Air Canada (operated by Air Canada and Air Canada rouge), Air Canada Express (operated by Jazz, EVAS and Sky Regional), WestJet, WestJet Encore, Provincial Airlines, Porter, and NewLeaf. Daily flights to Toronto, Toronto City Centre, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Charlottetown, Deer Lake, Fredericton, Gander, Goose Bay, Hamilton, Moncton, Saint John, St. John’s, and Sydney are complemented by seasonal service to Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Stephenville.
With daily service to Boston, Newark and New York (JFK), weekly service to Orlando and seasonal service to Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg and Tampa provided by Air Canada, Air Canada Express (operated by Jazz), WestJet, Air Transat, Delta, Sunwing, and United, Halifax Stanfield provides the most direct access to the United States in addition to offering the only US Preclearance facility in Atlantic Canada.
Internationally, Halifax Stanfield enjoys Air Canada year-round service to London Heathrow and Air St. Pierre year-round service to St. Pierre & Miquelon, and seasonal service by WestJet to Glasgow, ASL Airlines France to Dublin and Paris, Condor Airlines to Frankfurt and Munich, and Icelandair to Reykjavik.