As of April 6, no commercial flights will fly in or out of the Saint John airport until at least the end of April.
Air Canada announced they were suspending their last remaining routes into YSJ for the rest of the month.
Airport President and CEO Derrick Stanford says the airport is hoping to avoid staff lay-offs, but that could change as the timeline for pandemic prevention becomes more clear.
“Any job loss would obviously be a last resort, but we can’t run a business with zero revenue,” Stanford said. “As it stands now, we have no immediate plans. We’re looking at as many cost-cutting measures as possible.”
Stanford says they are expecting to see a huge shortfall over the rest of the year.
“We’re probably in a position to lose a few million dollars in 2020,” he said.
Prior to the Air Canada announcement, all other previously scheduled flights into Saint John had been cancelled.
While passengers will be unable to fly out of Saint John, the airport will remain open for private planes and shipments.
“We obviously will never close the airport, the runways are always open for med-evac purposes, supply and health staff for the pandemic crisis,” Stanford said. “Saint John will always be accessible by air, but there sure won’t be much going on in the terminal.”
Airport administrators had been planning for no passenger revenue in April and May, but are currently hoping to see passengers back by mid-summer.
“We’re hoping to see a very mild recovery occur about halfway through June,” Stanford said. “But the rest of the year will be just a fraction of what the previous years have been.”
