Greater Moncton Airport Faces Tough Years Ahead
MONCTON – The Greater Moncton Romeo LeBlanc International Airport suffered significant losses in 2020 due to the pandemic but a slight improvement could come in 2021.
More than 182,000 passengers are projected in the new year – similar to this year – but still down 73 percent from 2019.
Airport director of finance and administration Courtney Burns notes how plans are often fluid during the pandemic and you can only make assumptions based on information at hand.
“The analogy was it’s like trying to staple Jell-O to the wall. So we’ve done a number of forecasts and re-forecasts this year and it’s an ever-changing story.”
The airport is anticipating some resumption of air services or routes by the spring with a gradual build-up toward the end of the year.
To make up for fewer passengers, the airport improvement fee (AIF) which is added to tickets is going up by $4 to $29 in 2021.
Burns says the increase is mainly to cover debt obligations for previous AIF-funded projects including runway extension and rehabilitation.
She adds any spending right now must be regulatory or safety-related otherwise it’s frozen or delayed.
In the long-term outlook, the airport faces operating losses until at least 2024 when passenger numbers potentially return to pre-pandemic levels.
Allan Dearing is a reporter with 91.9 The Bend in Moncton, a Huddle content partner.