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As summer gets underway, the Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport remains relatively quiet with only about 10 percent of its normal air traffic.
Air Canada and PAL Airlines have been providing limited service during the pandemic.
WestJet is set to return on June 30 with a flight to Toronto and Porter Airlines plans to resume flights in late July.
Sunwing intends to offer sunshine flights again in early 2022 but it’s unclear as to when Air Transat will return to the airport.
Airport CEO Bernard LeBlanc says he’s optimistic the airlines will eventually start to ramp up service.
“So maybe ours will pick up a bit faster but maybe only when we reach the August time frame where all of our travel restrictions are fully eased and we’re back to normal, so normal travel takes place.”
Cargo activity has remained strong in recent months with LeBlanc noting how charter flights to Asia have risen significantly based on the demand of live lobster exports to China.
But LeBlanc says the return of passengers will be vitally important in the months to come.
“In over $20 million in revenue we normally get every year, cargo is just over 10 to 15 percent of that… so it’s only a small fraction of our total revenues. We really need the passengers to get back to our normal revenues.”
