Halifax airport operating at 2 per cent capacity

Halifax's airport is operating at two per cent capacity due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic — and staff do not expect to see passenger numbers return to last year's levels until at least 2024.

On a typical day in May, there are usually 11,000 travellers flying in and out of Halifax Stanfield International Airport. That number is now at roughly 200 to 300 passengers on just a handful of flights — down 98 per cent.

"It's actually really quite sad. Things are empty and things are very quiet and we certainly miss our passengers," said Joyce Carter, president and CEO of the Halifax International Airport Authority.

The federal government has restricted all non-essential traffic during the pandemic. Canadian airports are non-profit organizations that depend on passengers and airlines to pay the bills.

On average, the Halifax airport makes $100 million in annual revenue. Carter said she expects that number to be about half this year.

"When you come to the airport if you do buy a coffee or a burger, those agreements are with tenants and we do get a portion of that revenue," she said. "So certainly no passengers at the terminal building, very few flights, mean very little revenue."

Most food and beverage operators at the airport are closed, Carter said. Public seating is gone from the food courts, there are decals on the floor to promote physical distancing, and sections of the terminal are closed and lights are off to save money.

'Dramatic dip'

On Wednesday, there were just six flights on the board. Carter said that is down from an average of about 100. A flight last week to Toronto had just 14 people on it, she said.

"When we look at 2021, we expect to have passenger numbers equivalent to what we saw approximately in 1995. So that's a pretty dramatic dip," Carter said.

"The situation is very fluid so it changes quickly, but right now our predictions are to get back to 2019 passenger levels by 2024."

In 2019, the Halifax airport had over 4.2 million travellers.

It won't be until restrictions are lifted that Carter expects to see revenue to slowly start to climb again, likely starting with domestic traffic.

"People have to feel safe to travel, there's no question about that," she said.

The enhanced sanitization and physical distancing won't end any time soon and she expects to also see a move toward a touchless environment.

"I was here for 9/11. When you look at post-9/11 there was dramatic changes from a security perspective. When I think about how it might look post-pandemic and I think about passenger screening and how screenings may change for health, I can see changes coming."

She said the federal government's rent relief for airports and the emergency wage subsidy program have been helpful, but they still need more.

She also said it's hard to imagine that fees won't go up for travellers.

"We certainly wouldn't take a step like that lightly. It would be the absolutely last thing we would want to do. From our point of view, we will look at all other measures before that," she said.