New routes revitalize Maritime airports

A number of regional, national, and international routes are returning to Maritime airports.

“We expect to have around 35 destinations this year that we will be connected to,” says Leah Batstone, a spokesperson for the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

“That is in comparison to 2019, when we were connected to 46 destinations.”

Westjet is introducing a number of new routes, including direct flights to London, Glasgow, Dublin and Paris — coming this spring.

Air Canada too has London and Vancouver roots on their radar.

Traveller Mark Heisz is excited about the opportunity to fly to the new destinations.

“We were actually talking about it this morning and planning a trip to Dublin sometime this fall, so we’re definitely going to take advantage of the direct flights to Europe,” Heisz says.

Regional connections are also coming back. With flights from Sydney to Halifax, Toronto and Montreal among them.

“It’s great news. It shows confidence not only in our own market in the recovery of the industry in general,” says the CEO of the Sydney Airport Authority, Mark MacKinnon.

With new nonstop flights to Toronto Island, Hamilton and Edmonton, passengers flying out of Moncton will soon have more options than ever before.

“It’s funny because if we look pre-pandemic, looking at starting in May will actually have more destinations than we ever had before,” says Bernard Leblanc, president and CEO of the Greater Moncton Roméo Leblanc International Airport.