Airport flights continuing to decline
July 27, 2006

Preliminary statistics released Monday by Transport Canada show a continuing decline in flights in and out of Hamilton International Airport. At the same time, aircraft movements in the major airports across the country showed the biggest month over month gain this year. Hamilton also appears to be dropping in comparison with its main rival airports in Waterloo and London.

Hamilton's numbers fell by nearly 600 flights last month as compared to June 2005, which translates to a decline of 7.3 percent. London went up to 7.6 percent in the same period, and Waterloo rose 1.6%. The national month over month increase was 4.1 percent. That was the biggest this year but still not quite enough to bring the totals up to the first six months of 2005, as air travel in Canada continued a decline that started in 1999.

Hamilton registered fewer flights in four of the first six months of 2006, continuing a 2005 trend that saw declines in 10 out of 12 months. Total flights in 2006 are now down by over 2200 or 5.7 percent. That's an improvement over 2005 when the overall drop was 9.8 percent. Total flights across the country also went down in 2005 but only by 0.2 percent.

The numbers for London and Waterloo were also down in 2005 - by 3.0 percent and 2.2 percent respectively - but both rival airports did comparatively better than Hamilton. That trend also appears to be continuing in 2006. with Hamilton numbers worse than either London or Waterloo in four of the six months that have been reported.

The drop in June flights at Mount Hope may be more significant because the airport scored its highest monthly total in that month last year.

Total aircraft movements in Canada have fallen every year since 1999, and are now nearly 20% lower. Most of the decline has been in local movements, defined as flights that leave and return to the same airport, but intercity flights have also gone down. Mount Hope activity peaked in 2001 with just over 111,000 movements. Last year's total was slightly below 74,000 and if the trends of the first six months of this year continue, this year's number could fall below 70,000.

Hamilton's rank amongst Canada's forty-two airports with air traffic controllers fell from 17th in 2001 to 23rd last year. London was 17th last year and Waterloo 15th. All three airports lost substantial numbers of commercial flights over that five-year period, but Hamilton's decline was about twice that of its rivals.

The city owns the Mount Hope airport but leased it to a private company in 1995 for forty years, including ten years rent-free. Tradeport International is scheduled to begin sharing revenues with the city this year, but it appears that will only amount to about $35,000. An investigative series by the Hamilton Spectator in April raised a number of questions about the city's management of the lease - most of which remain unanswered.

Business park development around the airport - dubbed an aerotropolis - is the central economic development strategy of the city. In April, however, transportation expert Richard Gilbert told councillors that there is little future in air travel because of rising oil prices brought on by a peak in production.

In May a council majority approved a new thirty-year growth plan for the city that confirmed plans for industrial and commercial development on up to 3100 acres of farmland around the airport. Those lands were added to the urban boundary a year earlier, but both the provincial government and the citizen organization, Hamiltonians for Progressive Development, are appealing that decision.

See http://www.statcan.ca/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=51F0001P&CHROPG=1 for the June Transport Canada report.