Halifax Stanfield International Airport served 3,702,705 passengers in 2015, making it the busiest year in the airport’s history.

“We had another record setting year thanks to great support from our community and a number of new and expanded routes,” says Joyce Carter, HIAA President & CEO. “Compared to the previous year, our 2015 passenger numbers were up 1.1 per cent. And we’re pleased considering our very challenging start to the year with nearly 1,400 flights cancelled due to severe weather in the first half. Passenger numbers rebounded in the latter half of the year with the addition of several new domestic routes.”

The largest segment of air service traffic was in the domestic sector, which was up by 2.7 per cent over 2014 (3,042,188 passengers). This increase is due largely to additional routes that launched in 2015 including Air Canada rouge™ non-stop seasonal service to Calgary, WestJet Encore regional daily non-stop flights to Deer Lake, Gander and Sydney, as well as additional capacity to St. John’s and Ottawa. In other sectors, international traffic increased by 1.4 per cent (to 327,484 passengers) and, as American-based airlines continued to rationalize and consolidate operations in our market, transborder traffic (non-stop flights to/from the U.S.) decreased by 11.5 per cent (to 333,033 passengers). “We are optimistic about 2016,” says Ian Arthur, HIAA Chief Commercial Officer. “Several airlines have announced expanded service to critical destinations. WestJet will begin service to Boston in April and has extended its summer service to Glasgow, Condor will fly to Munich, Air Canada rouge™ returns with service to Calgary, and ASL Airlines France has extended its seasonal service to Paris and Dublin.” Air cargo also grew in 2015 with 32,020 metric tonnes processed (2014 – 32,003 metric tonnes). Much of that cargo is live lobster and with several foreign trade agreements signed or in the works the future is positive for increased seafood exports. In 2015, Halifax Stanfield was served by 17 scheduled and charter passenger airlines flying to 43 non-stop destinations. The airport served an average of over 170 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, Sunwing and Nolinor (in a partnership with Celebrity Cruises). Halifax Stanfield offers the most domestic service to and from the Atlantic region with Air Canada, Air Canada Express (operated by Jazz and EVAS), WestJet, WestJet Encore, Provincial Airlines, and Porter. Daily flights to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Charlottetown, Deer Lake, Fredericton, Gander, Goose Bay, Moncton, Saint John, St. John’s, and Sydney are complemented by seasonal service to Hamilton and Stephenville. With daily service to Boston, Newark, New York, and Philadelphia and seasonal service to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, St. Petersburg and Tampa provided by Air Canada, Air Canada Express (operated by Jazz), WestJet, Air Transat, Delta, Sunwing, United, and American Airlines, 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, 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.