2002 Ends With Continued Traffic Growth

January 16, 2003

The Deer Lake Regional Airport ended 2002 with its sixth consecutive month of increased passenger traffic over the same period in 2001. December figures were up 14% to reach 12,515, an increase of 1,596 passengers over last year.

Overall, traffic jumped 7% for the year for a total of 150,556 enplaning/deplaning passengers through the regional airport. This increase bucked the industry trend in Atlantic Canada Airports where traffic was down by nearly 7% on average.

Carl Stratton, Chairman of the Deer Lake Regional Airport Authority was delighted with the traffic levels. “We have managed to grow the market despite the instability and volatility within the airline industry”, said Stratton. “It is obvious we are delighted with our progress to date but we must continue to increase and improve our service to meet the needs of the traveling public and to reach long-term viability”, added Stratton.

The Deer Lake Regional Airport now serves Western Newfoundland with fifteen regularly scheduled passenger flights each day to destinations including St. John’s, Goose Bay, and Halifax with connections worldwide. A total of four different airlines; Air Canada Jazz, Air Labrador, CanJet Airlines and Provincial Airlines, now offer a regular service to and from Deer Lake.

The Manager and COO of the Deer Lake Regional Airport, Mr. Jamie Schwartz, attributes much of this recent growth to the airlines. “This strong growth we are experiencing would not be possible without the new and enhanced service provided by the airlines”, said Schwartz. “We are fortunate that the airline industry has responded with additional service and capacity to meet the market demand during this past year and we are optimistic this will continue well into the future”, added Schwartz.

The Deer Lake Regional Airport Authority is one of only a few remaining airports in Canada that does not collect or charge an airport improvement or passenger facilitation fee.