Suspended Fredericton-Toronto Flight May Boost Moncton Air Traffic
MONCTON – WestJet’s recent suspension of a daily flight from Fredericton to Toronto may lead to a bump in airline traffic for Moncton’s airport.
Courtney Burns, the CEO of the Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport, said it’s possible that the upcoming suspension of a Fredericton-to-Toronto flight may see more Toronto-bound fliers department from Moncton instead.
“At the peak of Covid, Air Canada suspended flights to Fredericton and Saint John – and Moncton certainly saw an uptick in traffic from that,” said Burns.
She noted that when it’s only a single day’s flight suspended from another airport, most airports can manage and absorb any changes in traffic that may entail.
“It hurts and isn’t welcome news, of course, but it’s not devastating like the complete pulling of a larger schedule,” she said.
“It can be mitigated and managed, and sometimes, you’ll see another airline pick up that service, so the overall route availability to a particular market might not change at all, just for a different carrier.”
Burns noted that another potential outcome could be the availability of the route staying unchanged, with another provider swooping in to offer it.
“Air Canada serves that route, but a lot of folks are loyal to WestJet and may have loyalty points and things like that,” said Burns, noting the company was careful to reintroduce flights as pent-up demand from the past couple of years hit and people began to fly more again.
“There will be folks who still want to make sure they’re on a WestJet flight, and we’ll see a bit of trickle-down effect for Moncton.”
Burns told Huddle nothing is business as usual for airports, as the industry comes back looking different than it did, pre-Covid.
“With us, WestJet does one daily flight to Toronto, and that’s not the frequency they had before Covid. They were careful about what they put in the system for the summer,” she said.
“We’re watching closely what WestJet might announce next. They’re refocusing on the west, but we’re hopeful they’ll continue to provide some connections. We’re also seeing the entrance of new airlines and low-cost airlines throughout the region, both in Fredericton and Moncton.”
On July 18, WestJet announced plans, effective November 15 of this year, to suspend several Eastern Canadian routes. Among these is a route from Fredericton to Toronto that it lists as 13 times per week at peak frequency.
This decision comes after the Calgary-headquartered airline emerged from a strategic review in June with plans to shift its resources and focus on growth in Western Canada and prioritize leisure flights and flights to sun destinations across Canada.
Other flights include one from Sydney to Halifax in Nova Scotia and flights from Charlottetown and Quebec City to Toronto.
Information on the suspension released by WestJet states that it’s part of a plan to pivot Eastern Canadian routes to “sun and leisure destinations” and “enhance” connections with Western Canada.
Burns said that strategy has helped WestJet avoid the problems – such as flight delays and baggage snags – plaguing Air Canada as it tries to keep up with post-Covid travel demand.
“They’re focusing on what they knew they can deliver, working on their strategy,” said Burns.
Burns said things are looking up for the Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport, with airport traffic picking up in general, and a favourable outlook for a strong recovery, for the rest of summer, going into fall.
“For the month of June, our passenger numbers represented 85-per-cent of pre-Covid or June 2019,” said Burns.
“That’s fantastic, as a few months prior, we were at 66-per-cent in a fairly soft first quarter, so it’s been a quick, upward trend from a recovery perspective. We have more seats in our market this summer, more airlines and more destinations served than we served in the summer of 2019.”
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas at [email protected].