Post Grey Cup travel made for 'incredibly busy' day at Regina airport
The day after Grey Cup was an “incredibly busy” time for air travel through Regina’s airport.
“On the Monday after the game, we actually had the single busiest day by a margin, almost 1000 additional passengers to what we would normally expect to give you a sense of scale,” James Bogusz, the president and CEO of the Regina Airport Authority, said in an interview.
Bogusz noted however, that the flights in and out of Regina surrounding Grey Cup were pricy.
“Well for example with Grey Cup, we had WestJet, we talked to them a lot in advance the actual event and they actually put on some extra capacity, but unfortunately the pricing was incredibly high,” he said.
“So that's been a challenge for some, but despite that we're still seeing a real uptick in travel.”
With increased competition, Bogusz said he hopes to see prices come down.
While the increased in travellers around Grey Cup and Agribition will be helpful for the airport’s bottom line, it is still operating below pre-pandemic traffic levels. Bogusz said the airport hopes to close the gap next year.
“We're budgeting around 85-90 per cent of pre pandemic volumes,” Bogusz said.
However, some new costs in the form of infrastructure projects will add some additional financial strain over the next year.
“The challenge for us is we have a lot of capital investment to make like a new runway overlay next year, which thankfully was half funded by the federal government but we still have to borrow about $13 million,” Bogusz said.
He noted the airport is working to raise as much of that money themselves as possible, without having to add any fees and charges for customers.
SUN DESTINATIONS
Flights to several sun destinations from Regina have started up this fall.
Sunwing returned to Saskatchewan with weekly flights to Cancun, Mazatlan, Punta Cana, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and Varadero.
The Cancun and Puerto Vallarta routes started up in November, while the rest are scheduled to begin throughout December.
WestJet also restarted a direct route to Las Vegas in November. Flights from Regina to Orlando are scheduled to start on Dec. 16.
“So lots of choices nonstop. But remember, it doesn't fly the day you want. You can always connect through Calgary or Toronto, but by all means the nonstop so the best way to go if you get one of those,” Bogusz said
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
'Sophisticated' cyberattacks detected on B.C. government networks, premier says
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs to start for Canucks in Game 1 vs. Oilers
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs will start in net for the Canucks as Vancouver kicks off a second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.