The Prince George Airport (YXS) saw 496,714 people enplaning and deplaning in 2019, 1.9 per cent less than the year previous.
“The regional economy is impacting our passenger activity, however we remain optimistic heading into 2020,” said President and CEO of the Prince George Airport Authority (PGAA), Gordon Duke, in a news release.“Comparable airports across Canada saw similar decreases in their passenger numbers in 2019 as airlines had to rework their networks to make up for the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft earlier in the year, which meant aircraft availability was stretched thin to make up for it.”
Some highlights from 2019 include Pacific Coastal Airlines increasing service by adding a second daily flight to Victoria along with the addition of Saturday service, making them a seven days per week operation at YXS. Air North also announced weekly scheduled service to Whitehorse, Kelowna and Vancouver on a 737-700.
The Prince George Airport Authority continues to work with its airline partners to increase passenger service and ensure schedules align with peak travel times, Duke said. In 2019, the PGAA spent close to $11 million on capital improvements including enhanced safety and operational capacity on the runways and aprons, expanding the long term parking lot, constructing a new food and beverage café in the departures lounge as well as installing new flooring and check in counters in the departures hall. In 2020, the PGAA looks forward to further enhancing the guest experience with a new PA System, expanded taxi parking area as well as upgrades to the HVAC systems.