NANAIMO — Nanaimo Airport had its busiest year ever in 2013, and the growth is expected to continue.
The final count shows 225,251 passengers through the gates at YCD, a 21 per cent jump from the previous year.
WestJet launched direct service to Calgary in June, icing the cake on more than five years of steady improvements and shifting Nanaimo from having the least-used airport of larger urban centres to a major player in Vancouver Island air transportation.
More changes are coming, starting with an announcement this week of regular Seattle service. Details of the U.S. service, including frequency of flights and the name of the carrier, won’t be made public until today, but international airport status is another step forward for Nanaimo’s airport.
Passenger volumes grew in the double digits steadily since June, when WestJet service started.
In each of July and August, the counts rose 35 per cent from the previous year. As a result, YCD saw almost 97,000 more passengers last year, compared to 2007, when the public was still debating airport expansion.
“We’re just pleased as punch,” said Russ Burke, Nanaimo Airport Authority board chairman. “It’s been quite the year.”
Improvements started with the removal of large trees to clear runway approaches, followed by the addition of 480 metres of tarmac to accommodate larger planes, and then new lighting and instrumentation needed to increase reliability when coastal weather reduces visibility. Terminal improvements followed.
Other commercial growth has been driven by expansion at YCD. In October, Esso fuel wholesaler Enex Fuels set up shop on the 224-hectare airport property.
Larger aircraft have started to use the expanded runway. This month, Enerjet landed a Boeing 737 at Nanaimo Airport. It was the second visit to YCD by the Calgary-based charter carrier, and likely not the last. Both times, the company was carrying workers to remote job sites. “We’re picking up people out of there and take them to Vancouver, and up north to Kitimat,” said Tim Morgan, Enerjet president.
Morgan, who founded WestJet before launching his new company, said landings and takeoffs went smoothly from the newly expanded airport.
Victoria International Airport is expected to release its year-end passenger figures this week.
