Its been a tough few years for the air travel industry. COVID, shutdowns, borders being closed, all contributing to a huge decline in air travel. You have probably seen in the last few months, as the restrictions have been stripped away, passengers are flying in droves. That is also causing a few problems at major airports like Toronto or Montreal as they have become choke points people have to travel through to get to their next destination.
In Regina, the international airport is close to 80 percent of the passenger volumes is saw before the pandemic, and the number keeps gaining altitude.
One of the reasons is the addition of Swoop Airlines, as the ultra low fare airline is bringing around one thousand seats to Regina, with six flights a week to places like Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto.
The President and CEO of the Regina Airport James Bogusz says the airport is looking to attract more flights from Regina, by offering competitive rates for the airlines to use the airport. Those lower rates could be the difference between and airline seeing a potentially profitable route, and one that won’t make any money. “We keep out invoices, or bills to them (The airlines) more competitive than many airports in the country.” Bogusz said in a recent interview with 620CKRM. “This encourages them to try routes through Regina.”
Bogusz says there are still a lot of pitfalls to travelling, and reminds people, especially those travelling internationally, to make sure you do the research about COVID restrictions, and what documentation you absolutely have to have. The ArriveCan App is one of those things you will still need to get back into the country.