The Prince George Airport Authority (PGAA) is reporting 417,848 passengers travelled through the Prince George Airport (YXS) in 2023.
This represents an increase of 15 per cent over 2022.
“We experienced a lot of wins in 2023 with the return of WestJet’s non-stop flight to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico as well as Pacific Coastal nearly doubling their seats on the Victoria route last fall,” said President and CEO Gordon Duke. “Passenger traffic has not reached pre pandemic levels, however this consistent healthy growth is in line with what other airports in Canada are experiencing.”
Highlights of the year include the signing of a Collaboration Agreement with the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation and the continued work to strengthen the relationship through meaningful dialogue and respectful action. The PGAA continues to modernize its grounds maintenance equipment fleet.
In 2023, a new state of the art snow plow/sweeper combo, along with a new aircraft rescue fire truck were purchased at a cost of $2.6 million dollars for the pair. The combined services building also underwent an expansion which adds an additional five heated storage and maintenance bays; two are completed, while the rest are still under construction and expected to be completed this spring.
“We thank both the federal and provincial governments along with Northern Development Initiative Trust for helping us fund these important pieces to our operation,” Duke said.
Months that saw the biggest spike in travellers was January at 59 per cent, February at 43 per cent, March with 33 per cent, followed by December at 18 per cent compared to the same months the previous year. We look forward to working with our existing airline partners to further assist their operations at YXS while continuing to share our story with new airlines.