Lethbridge Airport excited to take flight into the New Year

“I’m really excited to see where we’re going and see that increase and see the investment in the airport going forward. I’m liking the direction we’re going.”

He believes the upgrades help to create a “much brighter” and “more inviting” space for customers. Looking ahead, one big future project is a revamped baggage carousel, as well as improvements to the outside of the building.

“On the air side, we’re looking at possible extensions to runways, taxiways, to maybe build up some more space for commercial development – more revenue for the airport, essentially, on that side.”

$2.6 million of funding for the renovation work came from the City of Lethbridge, while $26 million was leveraged from the provincial and federal governments.

Inside the renovated passenger waiting area, with washrooms visible in the background. (Lethbridge News Now)

Prince believes any future work, as well as the completed renovations, will provide a strong stimulant to the economy of Lethbridge and southern Alberta.

“The more people realize there’s an airport here and it is an accessible airport, it’s got the infrastructure to really grow into the future [and] I think it will be a huge increase to the economy here once it’s expanded.”

SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS

Prince noted improvements to the airport’s water system will benefit staff and customers.

“Prior to this, we had a very aged water system where we were actually storing water on-site and this actually caused issues with chlorine levels so the water wasn’t necessarily safe to drink, so money and funding has been put into place to actually essentially remove that whole old system and bring in a brand-new pipeline from the City [of Lethbridge] and that actually brings up the safety of the water where we can actually use it and not have to worry about constant testing.”

He added there have been improvements to the lightning on the airfield.

“It was a very aged system and it was very difficult to get parts and replacements for that, so with this improvement we’ve got a lot of room to grow with it and a much more reliable and safe system, so it’ll be a huge improvement for anyone flying into the airport.”

PASSENGER FLOW

Prince told LNN that between January 2021 and November 2021, the Lethbridge Airport saw 8,400 passengers travel to/from Lethbridge. He noted that in the same period last year, there were 21,500 passengers.

He said, “the pandemic was a major factor in this, as passenger movements went from an average of 7,000-8,000 per month to 100 in April 2020 following the introduction of travel restrictions.”

“The good news is that we have seen a steady increase over the last 7 months, reaching 1,600 passengers in November.”

WestJet is currently the only airline providing service at the Lethbridge Airport. In March of 2020, Air Canada announced it would be cancelling its service out of YQL.

READ MORE: Air Canada halting service to Lethbridge as of March 31

Lisa Trent, Director of Corporate Customer Services at YQL said looking ahead, “we’re really going to work to make sure we’re promoting the Lethbridge Airport and its potential.”

“I think we’ve been tremendously successful in our ability to procure provincial and federal funding opportunities.”

She noted that before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, YQL was operating about 40 flights per week, from Lethbridge to Calgary, but “now coming through the pandemic, we’re currently sitting at 11 flights per week to Calgary.”

The hope is to get back to more of the pre-pandemic levels. Trent said that although part of the focus is on the now, staff are looking at the future growth of the airport.

She noted that the renovation work was “done very much with a forward-thinking strategy of, ‘where we’re putting things now promotes optimization growth and future potential for the airport to realize its full potential in the future’.”

by Justin Goulet

Lethbridge Airport excited to take flight into the New Year

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