Tourism Winnipeg

Cargo operations helping to weather the pandemic WINNIPEG AIRPORTS AUTHORITY Prior to the pandemic, the Winnipeg Airports Authority (WAA) was on its way to surpassing the $4.3 billion in economic impact it generated in 2019. Traffic in the first quarter of 2020 was on track to exceed performance of 2019; it was up six per cent and on average 10,000 people a day were travelling through Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. In August, about 800 travellers were flying out of Winnipeg. "We have to have all hands on deck to get through this. We don't see this having one magic bullet. This is going to be a series of things we do that will have an impact that will take us back to that future we saw in 2019," says Barry Rempel, President and CEO of WAA. WAA predicts it could take until 2026 passenger travel to recover, but there is promise with cargo flights, which currently account for just under 10 per cent of WAA revenues. "We will be able to sustain a longer level of employment because of cargo operations. On a year-to-date basis, we're seeing a five per cent growth over last year. Those are tremendous numbers," says Rempel. The WAA has plans to expand its cargo facilities and increase capacity to ship both animal and plant protein. Rempel adds, "If that is where the future is, then obviously that is where our market needs to be. It's not just about growing our business, but how we can help support Manitoba's growth and producers to get into the kinds of products where they can get a better return." Winnipeg Airports Authority B U I L D I N G B AC K S T R O N G E R YES! WINNIPEG 13

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