Air Canada Undertakes Major Cargo Expansion At Halifax Airport
HALIFAX—A Boeing 767-300ER cargo freighter, loaded with homegrown Nova Scotia exports, took off from the Halifax Stanfield International Airport on April 20.
The flight was the first of what will soon be a constant stream of Air Canada cargo flights leaving the airport, part of the airline’s new, high-frequency cargo service out of Halifax.
The new service marks the beginning of a major Canadian expansion of Air Canada’s cargo service–and a potentially major boon for Nova Scotia’s export economy.
Starting in May, Air Canada will run six flights a week out of Halifax, heading to European destinations like Cologne, Madrid, and Istanbul.
The plane will be packed with homegrown products like blueberries, pharmaceuticals, aerospace parts, and seafood. Each week, it will have the capacity to ship as much as 650 metric tonnes of air cargo.
If the plane reached that limit every day, it would nearly match the total volume of all air cargo the Halifax airport processed in 2021.
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Premier Tim Houston, who spoke at an April 20 announcement of the new service, said the flights will help grow Nova Scotia’s export sector by opening access to new markets.
The province produces world-class products, Houston said, and this is one more way to showcase that to the rest of the world.
“It’s time for Nova Scotia to get our swagger back. We have a lot to offer the world and when you see companies like Air Canada and Jazz… it just reaffirms what we have to offer the world,” Premier Tim Houston said.
Jason Berry, the vice-president of cargo at Air Canada, says Halifax was an obvious choice to start the company’s cargo service expansion because the city’s “strategic location” makes it a “great jumping-off point” for Atlantic flights.
The new Halifax flights mark the start of a significant expansion of Air Canada’s cargo service. The Boeing 767-300ER is the first of eight planes the airline will add to its cargo fleet in the coming months.
Before the pandemic, about 50 percent of air cargo was shipped on passenger planes. When public health restrictions shut down most passenger flights, it took a lot of options away from shippers.
Like many airlines, Air Canada started ripping seats out of passenger planes and repurposing them for cargo transport. Throughout the pandemic, the airline converted 11 airplanes and flew more than 15,000 cargo-only flights.
Now, passenger traffic is returning and those planes are going back to their old jobs. Berry says Air Canada is bringing in new freighters to replace them. The dedicated Halifax plane is the first.
Berry said the company was attracted to Halifax because of its diverse industries, but seafood will be the most important.
Seafood is unique because it is often served fresh and air travel is the only way to ensure it can make it to far-flung destinations in time. The flight leaving Halifax on April 20 was loaded with Nova Scotia seafood.
“The seafood we’re shipping today will likely be on menu items tonight or tomorrow,” Berry said.
Trevor Nichols is the associate editor of Huddle, based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].