CATCH Articles:
Hamilton airport losing ground on competitors
Mar 15, 2010
A report issued last week by Statistics Canada reveals a significant drop in flights at Hamilton’s airport last year. Nearby competing airports did much better, with two of the three showing increases, despite national declines.
Hamilton recorded just over 42,000 flights in 2009, dropping it to 35th among the country’s 41 largest airports, down from 24th position in 2005 when flights into and out of the city topped 74,000 a year. Across the country, flights declined by a quarter million, but still stood 320,000 higher than in 2005.
A large part of Hamilton’s drop was in local flights that remain in the vicinity of the airport, but itinerant flights (between airports) were also down sharply last year – falling 17 percent to 33,778 and pushing the facility’s rank to 32nd. It stood in 18th position in 2005. Nationally itinerant flights fell 3.6 percent in 2009.
The Kitchener-Waterloo airport itinerant flight numbers were also down – to 47,259 from 49,410 a year earlier. But both London and the Toronto Island airports went up – to over 75,000 at London, and surpassing 54,000 in Toronto. The latter has climbed 56 percent over the last five years, while London has risen by 39 percent. KW’s totals are about 4 percent lower than in 2005.
On Thursday, the International Air Transportation Association reported that a strong recovery appears to be underway in world air travel. The association is now forecasting airlines will only lose $2.8 billion in 2010, half of the loss IATA had earlier predicted. The improvements, however, are mainly occurring in Asia and Latin America, with the association reporting continued weakness in the North Atlantic and European markets.
IATA calculates that airlines lost $9.6 billion last year, and a cumulative total of more than $50 billion in the last five years. Rising fuel prices continue to impact air travel. IATA expects oil prices to average $79 a barrel this year, up $17 a barrel over last year. Crude prices closed today at just under $80.