Current Challenges

The Regional Airports in Alberta are left to primarily rely on a single air service provider for passenger flights. This situation imposes several barriers to increasing load capacity for flights, including airfare premiums; wait times for connecting flights; flight frequency; flight consistency and reliability; limited destination options.

Background

Since 2019 regional air service suffered significant declines, serving approximately 35% of its peak traffic from 2019. Issues such as inconsistent and unreliable flights, long connection times, and reduced flight frequency have caused passengers to opt for the main travel hubs in Calgary or Edmonton instead.

Most passengers prefer to fly from their own region if flights are available with reasonable fares and convenient departure/connection times. Avoiding parking in larger centers and reducing travel distances are significant incentives for regional air service. However, long layovers and poor connections diminish these advantages, making nearby airports like Edmonton, Calgary or even neighbouring provinces more attractive despite their distance.

A 2023 survey showed that 85% of passengers use the large urban airports due to better schedules and fares with 75-80% loss of passenger traffic in regional areas. However, businesses have indicated a strong preference to regional flight service and a need for improved air connectivity to promote growth and economic development activity, as losing air service has proven to be a significant barrier to growth. 

Regional air transportation is crucial to local economic growth, the movement of goods and the connectivity of Canadians across the country. The pandemic has had major impacts on regional air transportation ecosystems, affecting communities and local businesses from coast to coast to coast.

The Federal Government launched Canada’s Regional Air Transportation Initiative (RATI) in March 2021 to foster access to air transportation and support regional ecosystems. However, other provinces have also contributed to funding regional airports for infrastructure improvements to support capacity, maintain and improve service and gain access to essential services and economic opportunities. Recognizing the need for a multi-level Government approach, strong provincial support of regional air service can also assist in retaining this vital service and economic driver in Alberta. 

Recommendations

The Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce recommends the Government of Alberta:

1.    Aggressively pursue alternate options for increased flight frequency, improved connectivity, and service reliability in regional airports.

2.    Create a funding pool to support regional air carriers if passenger load factors or revenues do not meet minimum targets. This funding would help stabilize regional air service and connectivity, ensuring regional Airports can better serve its catchment area until such time that the load capacity can increase for business and personal travel.

Date Approved: February 12, 2025