Aviation
Monthly Aircraft Movements: Major airports – NAV CANADA Towers and Flight Service Stations, September 2016Aviation
Monthly Aircraft Movements: Major airports – NAV CANADA Towers and Flight Service Stations, September 2016

Analysis

There were 500,675 aircraft take-offs and landings at the 91 Canadian airports with NAV CANADA air traffic control towers and flight service stations compared with 497,637 movements in September 2015.

An increase in local movements (flights that remain in the vicinity of the airport) were sufficient to offset a decrease in itinerant movements (flights from one airport to another). Local movements rose 4.0% to reach 140,887 while itinerant movements declined 0.7% to 359,788.

Overall, air traffic rose slightly (+0.6%) in September 2016 despite the majority of airports reporting fewer movements as compared to the same month the year previous. Year-over-year variations of more than 1,000 movements were reported at 15 airports. Of these, 6 airports recorded declines which ranged from a reduction of 4,480 movements at Montréal/St- Hubert, Quebec to a drop of 1,443 movements at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The range of growth among the remaining 9 airports which recorded increases were from 3,518 movements at Boundary Bay to 1,040 movements at Vancouver International, both in British Columbia.

Itinerant traffic dropped 0.7% (- 2,413 movements) as 52 airports reported fewer movements in September 2016. The largest declines in air traffic were observed at Edmonton International, Alberta (-2,246), Montréal/St-Hubert (-2,192), Calgary International, Alberta, (-1,698) and Fort McMurray, Alberta (-1,370). The largest gains were recorded at Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International, Ontario (+1,892) and Victoria International, British Columbia (+1,266).

In September 2016, local movements rose 4.0% (+5,451 movements) as slightly more than half the airports reported more movements as compared to the same month the year previous. Year-over-year variations ranged from an increase of 2,820 movements (+55.9%) at Pitt Meadows, British Columbia to a drop of 2,288 movements (-22.3%) at Montréal/St-Hubert.

Itinerant movements: domestic, transborder and international

Domestic itinerant movements (within Canada) fell to 304,951 in September 2016, down 1.5% from the same month the previous year. The airports leading the declines in traffic were Montréal/St-Hubert (-2,198 movements), Edmonton International (-1,838), Calgary International, (-1,674) and Fort McMurray (-1,375). These reductions were sufficient to offset the rise in movements at Victoria International (+1,046), Boundary Bay (+848) and Chicoutimi/St-Honoré, Quebec (+774).

During the month, 85 airports reported 41,798 transborder (between Canada and the United States) itinerant movements, up 1.9%, from the level recorded in September 2015. The largest gains were reported at Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International (+905 movements), Vancouver International (+232) and Victoria International, (+219). The largest decreases were observed at Edmonton International (-380) and Regina International, Saskatchewan (-133). Over the last two months, transborder activity at Regina International has been negatively impacted following the discontinuation of flights by Delta airlines between the airport and Minneapolis Minnesota.

In September 2016, 36 airports reported a total of 13,039 other international itinerant movements, up 11.6% from September 2015.  Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International was the busiest airport with 6,218 movements, an increase of 11.7%, followed by Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International, Quebec (2,686 movements) and Vancouver International (2,179). Together, these three airports represented 85% of all other international itinerant movements during the month.

Factors which may have influenced the data

Operation NANOOK 2016, Canada’s annual northern sovereignty operation began on August 21^st, 2016. The Canadian Armed Forces deployed land, maritime and air components in three locations in the North: Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, WhiteHorse and Haines Junction, Yukon.

Effective August 18^th, 2016, Moncton/Greater Moncton International Airport, New Brunswick was renamed Greater Moncton Roméo Leblanc International Airport.

As of August 1^st, 2016, Delta Airlines suspended flights to and from Regina International Airport, Saskatchewan and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre Inc. reported 3,969 fires covering 1,293,072 hectares as of July 31^st, 2016. This represents an increase of 944 fires and 412,915 hectares from a month earlier. In 2015, the agency had recorded 5,766 fires encompassing 3,889,663 hectares by the end of July.

On July 27^th, 2016, Montair Aviation, a flight training academy based in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, opened their second training base at Red Deer Airport, Alberta.

On July 25^th, 2016, NewLeaf, a new Canadian low-cost air travel company, inaugurated its first flight from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport, Ontario to Winnipeg/James Armstrong Richardson International, Manitoba. The company is contracting flights through Kelowna-based Flair Air.

On July 20^th, 2016, Qatar Airways Cargo launched new freighter services between New York (John F. Kennedy), New York and Halifax/Robert L. Stanfield International, Nova Scotia.

Effective July 1^st, 2016, United Airlines suspended service from Edmonton International Airport, Alberta to Chicago, Illinois and to San Francisco, California.

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre Inc. reported 3,025 fires covering 880,157 hectares as of June 30^th, 2016. This represents an increase of 1,065 fires and 25,152 hectares from a month earlier. In 2015, the agency had recorded 4,076 fires encompassing 1,352,281 hectares by the end of June.

On June 30^th, 2016, United Airlines dropped its direct flights to and from London International Airport, Ontario and Chicago.

On June 16^th, 2016, Air Canada launched the only year round non-stop service between Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, Quebec and Lyon-Saint Exupéry, France. The flights will operate five times a week during the summer and four times a week during the winter.

On June 14^th, 2016, Air Canada Rouge inaugurated its first flight from Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport, Ontario to Warsaw Chopin Airport, Poland. The new non-stop seasonal service will operate four times a week until September 25^th, 2016.

On June 13^th, 2016, Air Canada Rouge started a new seasonal non-stop service between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and Glasgow Airport, Scotland. The flights will be offered three times a week until September 25^th, 2016.

On June 10^th, 2016, Air Canada Rouge inaugurated its first flight from Vancouver International Airport, British Columbia to Dublin, Ireland. The airline will operate flights three times a week until October 8^th, 2016.

On June 10^th, 2016, Air Canada Rouge commenced flights between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and Budapest, Hungary. The non-stop seasonal service will operate three times a week.

Fort McMurray International Airport, Alberta resumed commercial air service on June 10^th, 2016. The airport authority had suspended all commercial air traffic, May 5^th, 2016, as the result of forest fires in the surrounding area.

On June 3^rd, 2016, Air Canada began weekly service from Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport to Casablanca, Morocco. The flights will be operated by Air Canada Rouge until October 29^th, 2016. Service is scheduled to resume on May 1^st, 2017.   

On June 3^rd, 2016, Condor Airlines began weekly service from Halifax/Robert L. Stanfield International Airport to Munich, Germany. 

On June 2^nd, 2016, Air Canada’s inaugural flight AC35, 787 Dreamliner service from Vancouver International arrived in Brisbane, Australia. These new flights between the two cities will begin daily service on June 17^th, 2016.

As of May 31^st the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre Inc. (CIFFC) reported a total 1,960 fires covering 855,005 hectares across Canada in 2016. The majority of these occurred in Alberta, which recorded 525 fires encompassing 595,709 hectares, approximately 70% of the total area covered by forest fires nationwide. During the same period in 2015 the agency recorded more fires (2,503) across Canada, however the coverage was not as widespread (239,313 hectares).

On May 19^th, 2016, Air Canada Rouge launched its new seasonal non-stop service between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and London-Gatwick, United Kingdom. The flight will operate daily during the summer.

Starting May 6^th and May 7^th, 2016, WestJet launched its new non-stop service between six Canadian cities and London-Gatwick. Flights from Vancouver International, Calgary International, Alberta and Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International airports began May 6^th, while service from Edmonton International Airport, Winnipeg-James Armstrong Richardson International Airport and St. John’s International Airport, Newfoundland and Labrador began May 7^th.

On May 5^th, 2016, the Fort McMurray Airport Authority suspended commercial air traffic as a result of forest fires in the surrounding area. The airport, however, continued to operate as a key transportation infrastructure for emergency operations and the transportation of food and supplies for first responders and evacuees.

On May 4^th, 2016, WOW a low-cost Icelandic airline began flights from Reykjavik, Iceland to Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International, offering flights 5 times per week. On May 11^th, 2016, flights began between Reykjavik and Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International. The airline will start with service 4 times per week increasing to 5 times per week as of July 9^th.

On May 1^st, 2016, British Airways introduced the A380 on their existing London Heathrow, United Kingdom to Vancouver International Airport route.

WestJet (Encore) began daily service on April 15^th, 2016, between Halifax/Robert L. Stanfield International Airport and Boston, Massachusetts.

On April 7^th, 2016, SN Brussels Airlines began 5 / week service between Brussels, Belgium and Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport. The route was initially scheduled to begin service on March 29^th, 2016, but was delayed due to the terrorist attacks at Brussels Airport, Belgium on March 22^nd, 2016.

On April 5^th, 2016, Saskatoon-based Mitchinson Flight Centre opened a new satellite flight training school in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

On April 3^rd, 2016, Air Canada ceased its operations between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and JFK International airport in New York, New York.

In April 2016, Air Canada suspended one round trip flight between Vancouver and Terrace, British Columbia. Westjet as well will no longer operate its early morning flight to Vancouver and late night return to Terrace.

On March 27^th, 2016, Mt. Pavlof, a volcano on the Alaska Peninsula, erupted with little advance notice spewing an ash cloud up to 20,000 feet (6,100 m) high and prompting aviation warnings. Flights were affected in the territories, and as far away as Regina.

On March 15^th, 2016, WestJet (Encore) began 3 times a day service between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and Boston.

From March 6^th - 10^th, 2016, Air Greenland operated 3 round trips between Nuuk, Greenland and Iqaluit, Nunavut.

On February 24^th, 2016, a winter storm hit Chicago and moved into eastern Canada. The combination of snow and freezing rain led to dangerous travel conditions with over 1,000 flights cancelled in Chicago. Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport had about 140 flights cancelled.

A major snowstorm hit eastern Canada on February 16^th, 2016. Ottawa, Ontario received 51 cm of snow, a one-day record snowfall.

On February 15^th, 2016, WestJet ceased operations for the Calgary-Prince George, Calgary-Terrace and Fort McMurray-Kelowna routes, and reduced service on the Calgary-Brandon, Calgary-Edmonton and Calgary-Fort McMurray routes.

American Airlines ended its service between Edmonton and Dallas, Texas on February 10^th, 2016.

A major snowstorm hit Atlantic Canada on February 8^th and 9^th, 2016 with Halifax and St. John’s being particularly hard hit.

Freezing rain in the Ottawa area cancelled numerous flights in and out of Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier International on February 3^rd, 2016.

On February 1^st, 2016, United Airlines ended its daily service between St. John’s International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey.

From January 22^nd – 26^th, 2016, snowstorm Jonas hit the eastern seaboard of the United States and cities including New York and Washington, DC received record or near record snowfalls. Overall, about 12,000 flights were cancelled over the four-day period, a number of which were destined for Canada.

On January 18^th, 2016, National Airlines began a twice-weekly service between St. John’s International Airport and Orlando, Florida (Sanford International Airport).

On January 17^th, 2016, the Maritimes were hit with their third major snowstorm of the week.

Having already impacted travel at both Chicago and Detroit, Michigan airports in the U.S. Midwest, a major snowstorm hit central and eastern Canada on December 29^th, 2015 causing delays and cancellations in southern Ontario and western Quebec, including Toronto, Ottawa, and Montréal airports.

On December 27^th, 2015, Air China launched non-stop service from Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport to Havana, Cuba. The flights will operate three times per week.

On December 19^th, 2015, Porter Airlines began seasonal service between Toronto/Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Ontario and Melbourne, Florida. The flight will operate once a week.

On December 19^th, 2015, Delta Airlines began daily service between Edmonton International and Seattle, Washington.

WestJet began seasonal service between Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and Orlando, Florida on December 18^th, 2015. The flight will operate once a week.

On December 17^th, 2015, National Airlines inaugurated a twice-weekly service between Windsor, Ontario and Orlando (Sanford International Airport).

On December 10^th, 2015, Air New Zealand increased its services between Vancouver International Airport and Auckland, New Zealand from five times per week to daily service until the end of January.

On December 10^th, 2015, WestJet began seasonal service between Waterloo, Ontario and Orlando. The flight will operate once a week.

Aeromexico launched a daily non-stop service on December 9^th, 2015 between Vancouver International Airport and Mexico City, Mexico.

On December 8^th, 2015, United Airlines reduced its service between London, Ontario and Chicago from 2 daily flights to 1 daily flight.

On December 1^st, 2015, North Star Air expanded their services in Northern Ontario with the introduction of three new routes. These routes connect a number of smaller communities with Red Lake, Sioux Lookout and Thunder Bay.

On November 3^rd, 2015, Air Canada launched non-stop service from Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The flights will operate three times per week.

On November 1^st, 2015, Air Canada launched non-stop service from Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport to Delhi, India. The flights will operate four times per week.

On October 29^th, 2015, WestJet launched non-stop service from Abbotsford, British Columbia to Las Vegas, Nevada. The flights will operate twice-weekly.

On September 29^th, 2015, Air China, in cooperation with Air Canada, launched a new direct flight connecting Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport to Beijing, China. The flights will be operated by Air China initially three times per week.

Bearskin Airlines, on September 28^th, 2015, rolled out 23 new weekly non-stop flights between Sudbury Airport and Timmins, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Porter Airlines inaugurated a non-stop flight from Toronto/Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 21^st, 2015. The airline will operate two daily weekday flights from Toronto. Weekend service includes one roundtrip on Saturday and two on Sunday.

On September 8^th, 2015, WestJet began a new non-stop service between Calgary International Airport and Houston, Texas. The airline will operate six flights per week.

Air China Cargo, on September 3^rd, 2015, launched service to Edmonton International from Shanghai, China and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. The flights will operate six times a week, with three flights from Dallas and three from Shanghai.