Saskatoon airport sees passenger numbers exceed pre‑pandemic levels

Stephen Maybury addresses attendees during the Saskatoon Airport Authority’s annual general meeting. (Hallee Mandryk/CTV News)

The Saskatoon Airport Authority’s annual general meeting highlighted that the team at YXE Airport is feeling positively about the past year.

The airport saw a total of 1,516,840 passengers, which is slightly above the numbers seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which took a significant toll on the travel industry.

The airport’s president & CEO, Stephen Maybury, spoke to media following the meeting. He said while rising fuel costs have impacted countless businesses globally, YXE Airport has not been drastically affected at this point.

“As an airport, we’ll look for efficiencies where we come on. Our exposure, of course, is on the diesel fuel side of the equation. We’ll approach ideas on efficiencies. But really, at this point the impact has been relatively manageable,” Maybury said.

The president & CEO added that, in terms of upgrades, the planned renovations to the airport’s arrivals area are scheduled to begin within the next few months and be completed by 2027.

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He also spoke to the provincial government’s decision to extend the $2.2 million in annual funding for direct flights to Minneapolis for another three years.

“What we need to say at this point is thank you so much to the government of Saskatchewan and to our partner WestJet Airlines. This is an incredibly important flight in terms of enhancing economic development and investment opportunities.... We’re very pleased that it’s been renewed and looking forward to that flight,” Maybury said.

Maybury added that reduced demand for the direct flight to Minneapolis is likely due to overall declining demand for Canadian travel to the United States.

“That program is specifically structured to be based on the performance of the route. That route started out very, very strong and has progressed over time and softened somewhat and actually took note from the traveler sentiment to the U.S. cities across the board, and not representative of that particular flight...it’s incumbent upon the community to use the service just like any other route,” Maybury said.

As the YXE Airport moves into the next fiscal year, Maybury said there are no immediate concerns regarding the day-to-day operations.

“We’re always concerned for canceled flights. It’s never a good thing, but no new information at this point,” Maybury said.