From Toronto Sun – link to source story
Flight schools biggest source of Waterloo’s 13,619 take-offs and landings
Jenny Yuen • Toronto Sun • Jan 29, 2021
Canada’s busiest airport didn’t even crack the top five for air traffic activity in November as travel restrictions grounded many travellers from flying internationally through Pearson airport.
Instead, according to new data from Statistics Canada, Kitchener/Waterloo was clocked as the busiest airport that month — for the first time since record-keeping began 60 years ago — with 13,619 take-offs and landings.
“Since the pandemic and, specifically, with some of the travel restrictions, airports that have more local activity tend to be continuing with activity,” said Rob Lamour, who manages the aviation statistics for Statistics Canada.
“Kitchener/Waterloo has a lot of local activity and flight schools. They continue to be in operation. Since the border restrictions, there’s been a reduction of passenger service, mostly what we’ve been seeing is a lot of cargo and local fights and flight schools.”
Boundary Bay took second place, followed by Abbotsford, Quebec/Jean Lesage International, Calgary/Springbank and Vancouver International.
Pearson came in seventh.
A spokesperson from the Greater Toronto Airports Authority — which handles information about Pearson — could not immediately be reached for comment.
According to the survey, the total number of aircraft movements in November in Canada fell 26.6% from the same time in 2019.
Domestic traffic within Canada declined 30.2% from November 2019, while movements to the United States were down 81.3%, according to StatsCan. Other international traffic dropped 68.8% year over year and remained flat compared with October (down 69.4%).
The survey also found Hamilton International is Canada’s busiest overnight express cargo hub. After the onset of travel restrictions, total traffic at Hamilton fell to its lowest point in May (down 62.1%), but then picked up with moving essential supplies and goods from growing e-commerce sales. In November, the airport had recorded its first year-over-year increase in itinerant movements since the onset of the pandemic by 0.4%.
Hamilton International is also the spot where snowbirds — retirees who fly to sunnier southern destinations — tended to fly.
With restrictions against non-essential land-border crossings to the U.S., snowbirds that were driving south could opt for a new helicopter service that launched in late October, which shuttles individuals across the border to Buffalo, N.Y. while their vehicles are transported overland.
“In November, helicopter traffic at the airport was almost four times higher than the previous five-year average for November,” the study said.