Edmonton International Airport has second-strongest year ever: Nearly 8 million passengers, new air service and investment.
In 2015, Edmonton International Airport recorded its second-busiest year ever, serving 7,981,076 passengers.
“Overall, 2015 was a year of wins in the context of some challenging economic times,” says Tom Ruth, EIA President and CEO. “Looking at the big picture, we are still Canada’s fastest-growing major airport over the past 10 years.
“We’re grateful for the strong support we have received from our community, which continues to support our non-stop flights. International travel is growing, more passengers are choosing to connect though Edmonton, and we attracted significant private investment in 2015. We appreciate the confidence that passengers and the business community have shown, and we will keep working hard to drive business growth in our region.”
Passenger Statistics
Despite an economic downturn, domestic travel remained relatively steady, growing 0.5 per cent over the previous year. International travel soared by 14.5 per cent, driven by the growth of Icelandair service to Reykjavik and the introduction of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines service to Amsterdam in May. Challenged by a lower Canadian dollar, US travel declined by 10.5 per cent. There was a decrease of 19.5 per cent in general and business aviation passengers, many of whom are mobile workers travelling to energy-based worksites. Overall passenger counts came in at 2.7 per cent below 2014’s record numbers, ranking 2015 as the second-highest in EIA history.
Edmonton International Airport is a major regional economic driver, creating 12,600 direct and indirect jobs and generating nearly $1.2 billion in GDP with total economic output of over $2.2 billion.
Air Service
EIA also saw major gains in air service in 2015. WestJet increased regional service with 60 additional flights, including expanded non-stop service to Kelowna. WestJet also announced new, non-stop service to London-Gatwick beginning in May 2016. Icelandair added an additional summer flight to its year-round passenger and cargo service to Reykjavik and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines began non-stop passenger and cargo service to Amsterdam in May. Delta Air Lines began new non-stop service to Seattle.
Cargo
EIA’s cargo services saw its sixth consecutive year of volume growth. Air China Cargo began direct service to Shanghai Pudong Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, three times a week each direction. With this, Edmonton becomes Air China Cargo’s only Canadian destination with scheduled freighter service to mainland China. This new service is forecasted to generate $31 million in GDP for the Edmonton Metro region.
Another major development in 2015 was EIA’s designation as a Foreign Trade Zone, allowing companies to reduce or eliminate normal trade barriers such as tariffs, quotas and compliance costs. This is an initiative of Port Alberta, a collaborative network that works to support industry growth, expand trade and investment, and improve how goods and people flow into and through the Edmonton Region.
Air France-KLM Cargo now also connects EIA with Amsterdam-Schiphol airport, one of Europe’s largest cargo hubs. With cargo connections into Europe and Africa via Amsterdam, into Asia via Shanghai and Texas/South America from Dallas, EIA has transatlantic and transpacific routes and is a strong Canadian cargo hub option. Over 250,000 square feet of new cargo facilities were completed or announced in 2015. Construction of Rosenau Transport Ltd.’s new 210,000-sq.-ft. distribution centre began in 2015. When it opens in spring 2016, it will provide 24-hour ground connections to and from all western Canadian markets.
Commercial Development
Commercial development at EIA supports air service by attracting new passengers and services, and by providing revenue that is reinvested into the airport. With major private investment in EIA, 2015 was a strong development year. Key development highlights included a new facility for Brayden-Burry Expediting, the start of construction of the Rosenau Transport Ltd. 210,000-sq.-ft. Warehouse and shipping facility, a 428,000-sq.-ft. Premium Outlet Collection –Edmonton International Airport, the opening of a new EIA-Canadian North 737 simulation trainer, construction of a second Aerocentre by Shell, a new hangar for Airco Aircraft Charters and a new facility for Patrik’s Water Hauling Ltd. The terminal building also saw the opening of the first ever Boston Pizza at an airport and Gate to Escape Massage and Wellness.
Community
EIA is also very grateful to the generosity of the surrounding communities and partner businesses who supported the Fifth Annual EIA Charity Golf Classic, which raised a record $200,000 for Youth Empowerment and Support Service (www.yess.org), Riseup House (www.riseuphouse.ca) and the Leduc and District Food Bank (www.ldfb.ca). This is the fifth year that EIA has held its annual charity golf classic.
EIA is very proud of its involvement with the Edmonton region community in everything from parade floats to the live music program.
About Edmonton International Airport
Edmonton International Airport is a self-funded, not-for-profit corporation whose mandate is to drive economic prosperity for the Edmonton Region. EIA provides 12,600 jobs and has an economic impact of over $2.2 billion added to the regional economy. EIA is Canada’s fastest-growing major airport over the past 10 years, the fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic and the largest major Canadian airport by land area. EIA offers non-stop connections to 60 destinations across Canada, the US, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe. Please visit www.flyeia.com for more information.
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Media Contact:
Chelsey Quirk
Senior Communications Advisor
t: 780.890.6717
c:780.903-6358
e: cquirk@flyeia.com
w: www.flyeia.com