The CEO of the Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport has described 2020 as a miserable year for the aviation industry.
At its recent annual general meeting, Bernard LeBlanc noted how passenger activity fell by 74 percent last year – just over 173,000 passengers used the terminal – which was a financial blow to the facility.
LeBlanc said the majority of its revenue comes from passenger activity with a tremendous impact on airline partners such as Air Canada which significantly reduced service, WestJet cancelled flights in November while Porter Airlines, Sunwing and Air Transat all suspended service.
He added car rental companies, restaurant operator Aramark and convenience outlet Relay all saw their business plummet.
The airport sustained itself operationally by dipping into cash reserves which have been significantly depleted.
Revenue dropped to $9.6 million which was 53 percent lower than the $20.3 million projected in the budget.
To compensate for pandemic impacts, LeBlanc said planned expenses and infrastructure projects were cut and nine employees were laid off or 26 percent of the workforce.
But LeBlanc reported much better news for the airport’s cargo activity in 2020.
“Domestic cargo actually went up by four percent last year. When we factor in the international cargo, we look at our volume towards Asia and to and from Iceland, it’s actually 50 percent in volume higher than what we’ve seen.”
On another positive note, LeBlanc said the airport was fortunate to see two air services launch during the pandemic.
PAL Airlines started flights to Newfoundland and Labrador in September and Bluebird Nordic began weekly cargo flights to and from Iceland in November.