Sault airport traffic slowly recovers from pandemic

While improving, air traffic in the Sault is currently at three-quarters of pre-COVID-19 pandemic numbers.

At its lowest point during COVID-19, traffic was just four per cent of normal levels. The recovery, while slow, is faster than expected, airport officials said Friday.

"The passenger levels are actually trending a little better than we anticipated," said Sault Ste. Marie Airport CEO. Terry Bos.

Bos said the bounce-back needs to continue, since federal funding to keep the airport afloat has come and gone and it's now relying on regular traffic for revenues.

"We used to be somewhere in the range of between 16,000 and 20,000 a month, depending on the month," he said.

"So we were about 210,000-215,000 in a year. Currently we're still shy of 14,000 in the last month. So like I said, there's still a long ways to go, but it's certainly a promising trend."

A return of post-secondary students will help traffic keep trending upward.

"We anticipate that Sault College and Algoma University are going to be back to full capacity in class," Bos said.

"So we always get a nice bump from the international students and the out-of-town students that fly in and out. So August, September, October are normally really good months."

There is also a need for major airline's to restore regular service.

Pre-pandemic, there were about four more Air Canada flights and one more Porter flight per day than there are now.

Airport officials expect a return of Sunwing Airlines this winter will further help the recovery.