Drop in demand at Regina airport, but some flyers say they aren't concerned about COVID-19

Before Saskatchewan had its first case of COVID-19, the Regina International Airport was already seeing a dip in travellers.

CEO James Bogusz said there was a one per cent decrease in travellers at the airport in February. The data for March won't be available until April, but he expects it will follow suit as airlines are seeing a drop in travel demand.

"Airlines have been notifying our airport — and I'm sure many others — that we can expect to see some reductions to scheduled service as they really gauge the softening demand for travel," Bogusz said.

The Regina Airport Authority is trying its best to ease the anxieties of the people who are still willing to travel.

The cleaning staff is increasing the frequency of their rounds, and there are 28 hand sanitizer stations situated around the terminal.

CBC visited the airport on Friday to get a sense of how concerned travellers are.

The unanimous consensus: not concerned at all.

Ken Miskiman said he's trying to live his life "business as usual" in the face of COVID-19.

He had a cruise to the Mexican Riviera planned, but it was cancelled, so he and his wife decided to fly to Los Angeles to visit friends.

"I think it's blown out of proportion," he said. "Just use precaution and travel safe and you should be alright."

Adrian Lightfoot echoed Miskiman's sentiments as she prepared to board a flight home to Ontario.

She said she's not concerned about travelling in the age of coronavirus, but still came up with a game plan for getting through the airport in Toronto — one of Canada's busiest.

"Great hand hygiene and making sure that I don't go sit in the middle of a crowd," she said. "And get out of the airport when I'm there. It's all good — I'm not going to stop travelling because of [COVID-19]."

Bogusz said any travellers who want to cancel or change flights should contact their airline directly. The airport can't make those changes.

And he asks that flyers be patient, as there will likely be more screening by security, especially at bigger airports.