New routes, more services and more awards for Edmontonians
Edmonton International Airport (EIA) Highlights of 2010
January 17, 2011 (Edmonton, Alta.) – With increased air service, a state of the art expansion well underway, and over $20 million invested in land development, Edmonton International Airport strengthened its capacity as an economic enabler for the Capital Region in 2010.
“Air service is critical to the economic well-being of a community. This is why everything we do is in service to our passengers and our region,” said EIA President and CEO Reg Milley. “Everything we earn is invested right back into the airport.”
Highlights of 2010 at EIA
More places: In 2010, with a family of more than 50 non-stop destinations, EIA provided some of the best air service in the region’s history. Amongst the announcements in 2010: WestJet added direct flights to Orlando, Maui and Montego Bay. Air Transat added direct flights to Frankfurt and Continental increased their direct service to Houston.
For three of the last five years, EIA was the fastest growing major airport in Canada. With 6.1 million passengers, EIA maintained strong passenger numbers in 2010 and for the second year in a row, EIA’s US passenger numbers surpassed the one million mark. Northern resource-based general aviation traffic was up nearly 75 per cent with an estimated 500,000 landed seats in 2010.
Reconnecting customers with their routes: As part of EIA’s aggressive pursuit of even better air service, EIA launched the Stop the Calgary Habit campaign in 2010. The airport’s most successful marketing and communications campaign to date focused on repatriating the estimated 750,000 Edmontonians who fly from Calgary instead of Edmonton. During the first six months of the campaign, almost 19,000 fewer Edmontonians drove to Calgary to catch a flight. By adjusting their travel habits, travellers were rewarded with more seats, new routes and increased flight frequency.
Investing in the future: Expansion 2012 – Proceeding on time and about 25 per cent under budget, EIA’s airport expansion program made great headway in 2010. Over 480,000
square feet of space was added to the EIA terminal and the building has been fully enclosed. Once completed, Expansion 2012 will expand the aircraft apron by more than two million square feet, bring the total number of aircraft bridges to 30, and expand EIA’s food and beverage and retail. EIA’s Expansion 2012 has also boosted the local economy. On an average day, there were 300 people working to build the expansion, and on peak days, that rose to as many as 800. Once complete, the project will have created an estimated $390 million in economic spin-offs.
EIA also invested over $20 million dollars to help pave the way for more growth in general aviation business. This led to several new business announcements in 2010 amounting to over 400,000 square feet of hangar, aviation service, and office space.
Meeting demand: In 2010, EIA was pleased to announce that a much-anticipated hotel will be built in 2011. The eight story, 189-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel will be directly connected to the airport and will provide EIA passengers with high-quality accommodations.
Offering lots more: EIA also proudly introduced jetSet Parking, an affordable new service that features innovative firsts for airport parking in Canada. Located next to the airport with 3,300 fully powered stalls, jetSet provides both a valet and self-serve options that include shuttle service to the terminal. In addition, the lot features airline check-in kiosks and a bag-drop option for WestJet customers.
EIA also introduced a new cell phone waiting lot which provides a convenient, up to 45 minutes of free parking space for people waiting to pick up passengers.
More moving experiences at EIA: EIA enhanced passenger experience through additional live entertainment, art and community partnerships. This included activities with organizations like the Valley Zoo Society, Edmonton Public Schools and U22.
Making impressions: EIA won several awards in 2010, including top marks for efficiency from the Air Transport Research Society. For the third year in a row, EIA received of one of the airport industry’s most prestigious awards: the Airports Council International-North America’s Peggy Hereford Award for overall Marketing and Communication Excellence. EIA also received Routes Airport Marketing Awards in the Regional and World categories. In addition, EIA was also recognized as one of the top 50 employers in Alberta and top 100 in Canada.
On behalf of everyone at EIA, here’s to more exciting news in 2011!
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