Fredericton International Airport sees 24 per cent increase in passenger traffic, aiming for a record 2024

After several difficult years in the travel industry, the CEO of the Fredericton International Airport says things are finally looking up.

The airport saw a big boost in passenger traffic year over year, a relief after the COVID-19 pandemic grounded many travellers. When Canadians did start to travel again, it resulted in airport chaos with cancelled flights, thousands of lost bags and frustrated travellers.

Johanne Gallant says the Fredericton airport has stabilized, if not completely rebounded to pre-pandemic traffic.

“We'll finish the year about 24 per cent up from last year. So we're having a record year and next year there's a potential that it could be our best year ever,” she said. “It's a potential, if everything goes well, right? We just don't dare say it out loud too much because you know things change, and you never know.”

The airport completed a $32 million expansion in March 2021.

Its best year ever was in 2019, with over 427,000 passengers. In 2023, the number will be around 330,000.

But Porter and Lynx airlines have just announced the addition of more flights from Fredericton to Ottawa and Calgary, respectively, next summer.

Gallant also said Porter is adding more connections to Ottawa, so travellers from the East will have more options.

It’s all a relief for the airport.

The Saint John Airport is seeing another Flair flight added to its schedule in January, offering passengers a direct flight to Orlando.

“Coming out of the pandemic, I mean, it was rough,” she said. “There was some challenges throughout the whole industry and around the world trying to meet the demand because it came in so quickly. It went from almost zero demand to full demand.”

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