Deer Lake Regional Airport Celebrates Increased Passenger Traffic With Employee Appreciation Day

July 23, 2003

Airport Administration and employees had good reason to celebrate this week as the Deer Lake Regional Airport posted its twelfth consecutive month of passenger traffic increases and is on pace for one of the busiest years in the history of the airport.

The statistics for the month of June were a whopping 23% better than the same period last year and traffic for the first six (6) months of 2003 was up 10.5%. A total of 15,600 passengers departed or arrived at the airport in June of this year compared to 12,708 in 2002. The total number of passengers traveling through the airport during the first six (6) months of this year was 75,257, nearly 7,200 more than the same period a year ago.

The Deer Lake Regional Airport marked the occasion with an Employee Appreciation Day and members of the Board of Directors served up barbecued hamburgers, hot dogs and refreshments to many of the nearly 130 employees. Each of the workers also received a windbreaker jacket with the airport logo prominently displayed on the chest.

Mr. Carl Stratton, Chairman of the Authority joined in the celebrations, along with other members of the Board, and spoke to many of the employees. “It is only fitting that we recognize the valuable efforts of all of the employees at the Airport during this special occasion, regardless of their field of work,” said Stratton. “The Airport has experienced significant changes in the past few years and we want the employees to know they are appreciated,” added Stratton.

Airport Manager, Jamie Schwartz, was very pleased with the twelve-month consecutive increases in passenger traffic. “The increases are even more significant when you consider the turmoil in the airline industry,” said Schwartz. “Despite the volatility and general decline in passenger travel, we continue to buck the trend with the month to month and year to year increases. If this trend continues this could be one of the best years in the history of the airport,” added Schwartz.

The Deer Lake Regional Airport now offers fifteen regularly scheduled passenger flights each day throughout Newfoundland and Labrador and Eastern and Central Canada with connections worldwide. A total of four different airlines; Air Canada Jazz, Air Labrador, CanJet Airlines and Provincial Airlines, now operate a regular service to and from Deer Lake. The Deer Lake Regional Airport is one of only a few remaining airports in Canada that does not collect or charge an airport improvement or passenger facilitation fee.