WEB FIRST: Air traffic down
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Updated: October 26, 2009 12:16 PM
There hasn't been one sector anywhere which hasn't been touched by the down-turned economy, including Castlegar Airport.
Shawn Sutherland, Castlegar Airport manager, said passenger traffic was down 10 to 15 percent from January to July of this year.
"We have been picking up since July, but in the first half of the year we were down 10 to 15 percent depending on the month," said Sutherland.
Despite those numbers, Sutherland said he's not overly concerned about the decrease in traffic, given that 2008 was a banner year for passenger numbers at Castlegar Airport.
"2008 was a substantially better year than previous years with 84,000 arriving and departing passengers. We were doing great in 2001 until September 11 and it was slow ever since then until 2008. Basically we are now back to where we were in 2007," Sutherland explained.
The decrease in passengers, said Sutherland, was "not unexpected" and is directly due to the recession.
"Not as many people are traveling or working. They're tightening their belts, and so it stands to reason that the numbers are down. Passenger travel has been off all year all around the world, and we are not immune to that," Sutherland added.
"Our traffic is governed by the economic activity in the area and when business and tourism is good people will travel."
The mere fact that Air Canada has maintained the same flight schedule despite the decrease in travelers, said Sutherland, bodes well.
"We will see what happens in 2010. We expect things to turn around in parallel with the economy."
One thing is for certain, is that flights in and out of Castlegar were cancelled today when the area saw its first snowfall.
"When snowflakes are as big as dinner plates, it's kind of difficult for visibility. We [at the airport] can't see Selkirk College and if I was in an airplane I wouldn't want to fly into here today with that kind of visibility," said Sutherland.
