Passenger traffic at Winnipeg airport continues to bounce back from pandemic
Richardson International Airport saw 3 million passengers in 2022, 2½ times what it was the year before
Airline passenger traffic is continuing to rise at Winnipeg's Richardson International Airport.
The largest airport in Manitoba saw passenger volumes crater in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. New figures released by the Winnipeg Airports Authority show a recovery is underway.
Just over three million people flew in and out of Richardson in 2022, the airports authority said Wednesday. That's 2½ times what it was 2021, when 1.2 million passengers travelled through Winnipeg's airport.
The return of winter holiday travel and direct flights to warm-weather destinations contributed to the improvement last year, the airports authority said in a statement.
So did the October advent of a new WestJet connection between Winnipeg and Los Angeles, said the WAA, which has not disclosed passenger volumes on the new non-stop flight.
Airline passenger numbers through Winnipeg nonetheless remain below pre-pandemic volumes. Approximately 4.5 million people flew in and out of Richardson in 2019.
Last spring, WAA president and CEO Nick Hays said he expects it will take several years before air traffic fully recovers from the pandemic.
Corrections
- We initially reported that the three million passengers the airport saw in 2022 was a 250 per cent increase over 2021 passenger numbers. In fact, it was 250 per cent of 2021 passenger numbers, or 2½ times the number of passengers.Jan 25, 2023 2:46 PM CT