“Headwinds continue” for the airport’s passenger operations. Photo Credit: WestJet/X.
Cole Horncastle, the Executive Managing Director for John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport recently provided a detailed update to Council’s Airport Sub-Committee that detailed “significant challenges” for the airport’s passenger operations.
On the other hand, the airport is forecasted to see an annual increase in cargo operations compared to 2023 as its status as Canada’s largest overnight express cargo airport remains intact.
Horncastle’s report notes that “headwinds continue” for the airport’s passenger operations.
Hamilton Airport is predicted to see the lowest number of passengers (325,000) since pandemic-plagued 2021 when the facility saw only 250,019 people.
The airport saw growth in 2017, 2018 and 2019 when air travel increased to 955,373 people before being bogged down by the pandemic.
However, in 2023, passenger traffic at the airport was finally rebounding with 820,011 passengers.
Since then, Horncastle notes that there has been “consolidation and exiting of carriers” like Swoop in late 2023 and low-cost carrier Lynx in quarter one of 2024.
After that, WestJet reduced their eastern operations and focused on western Canadian flights which again impacted travel levels.
Air Transat has also been forced to defer their winter 2024/2025 service to due unplanned engine maintenance.
The airport has also reportedly been impacted by pilot and crew shortages, regulatory changes, aircraft maintenance, and economic and inflationary pressures.
Despite the challenges, Hamilton Airport continues to offer service throughout the winter with its Air Canada luxury motorcoach service to and from Toronto Airport operating six time a day, Play Airlines flights to and from Iceland (with connections) operating four times weekly, weekly Sunwing flights to and from Cayo Coco (Cuba), Varadero (Cuba), Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), and Cancun (Mexico), and WestJet flights to and from Calgary (with connections) up to five times per week.
The report shows that over 11,000 people have used the Air Canada motorcoach service since its launch in May 2024.
Meanwhile, Hamilton Airport’s cargo operations continue to thrive, with 2024 forecasted to be the second most successful year to date.
The airport is forecasted to see 773 million kilograms of cargo by year’s end, second only to 2022 when over 876 million kilograms passed through.
Horncastle noted that shipping company DHL recently increased their B747/B777 cargo activity to six times per week and Amazon’s Prime Air increased their operations to three times daily.
Cargojet, Canada’s leader in air cargo services, also continues to grow operations and recently announced a new partnership to expand e-commerce connectivity from China to Canada through Hamilton.
Cargo traffic is expected to grow significantly over the next few years at the airport, with Tradeport International Corporation, the company which manages the airport, announcing a $400 million expansion earlier this year.
The $400 million investment aims to “transform the airport’s infrastructure, including expanding and enhancing passenger terminal buildings, upgrading cargo facilities, enhancing taxiways and aprons, and achieving Net Zero Carbon by 2030.”
It remains to be seen what impact that investment will have on future passenger and cargo traffic.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
