From CTV News 
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Jonathan MacInnis, CTV News Atlantic Reporter • March 11, 2022
After a year of tempered travel, March break is underway in Nova Scotia and many people seem to be feeling secure about flying.
“Things are starting to open up a little bit more and I’m feeling a little more at ease with everything,” says Zoe Grandy, who is on her way to visit a friend in Ottawa.
Travel also picked up around Christmas 2021, before the Omicron wave grounded that momentum to a halt.
“We have been at or about 25 to 30 per cent of typical levels that we would see in January,” says Leah Batstone, a spokesperson for the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
But with government restrictions easing, travel is picking up. As a result, features like the Park-N-Fly at the Halifax airport have re-opened. Some of the shops inside however, remain closed.
“The airport and their concessions were built for four million passengers or more and the last two years we only had around one million. So, for some of these businesses, it’s not feasible to reopen,” Batstone says.
Meanwhile, the nation’s busiest airport has been crowded since early Friday morning. Officials at the Toronto Pearson International Airport in Toronto say this will be the busiest travel day since the start of the pandemic, with approximately 85,000 passengers expected to pass through.
In Halifax, the prediction is this year will see about 60 per cent of the levels seen in 2019.
Officials with WestJet say they’re preparing for a full return to travel.
“Our busiest point next week we will operate about 400 a day but pre-pandemic, that was about 700. So, we look forward to announcing some significant investments out in Atlantic Canada very soon,” says spokesperson Morgan Bell.
That sense of optimism is being shared by passengers.
“In line were talking with each other again and engaging. You can tell that we’re all just getting happier and more comfortable to be flying again, which is great,” says traveller Velicity Smith.
Next week, WestJet officials are planning to release information about an increase in services in the region with a number of routes returning to Maritime skies.
It’s expected the passenger numbers at Halifax Stanfield International Airport are going to continue to climb.
Air Canada flights to London, Heathrow and Boston are also returning this summer.
A new airline called Eurowings Discover will be offering service to Frankfurt.
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- Source: https://canadianaviationnews.wordpress.com/2022/03/12/maritime-airports-see-increase-in-traffic-as-canadians-learn-to-live-with-covid-19/
