2012 Passenger Numbers Are So Far Soaring to New Heights

Passenger numbers at the Prince George Airport have taken off in a big way. Traffic numbers for the month of January increased by 5% over the same month last year, while February saw an 11.1% jump year over year.

President and CEO of The Prince George Airport Authority, John Gibson, attributes the significant increase in traffic to the boom currently taking place in Northern BC. He says “when Premier Christy Clark was in town for the Natural Resource Forum earlier this year; she mentioned we were on the cusp of a northern renaissance as billions of dollars were being invested in Northern BC in the coming years. We are starting to see the increase in activity and we are expecting passenger numbers to continue to grow this coming year.”

Marketing Manager, Lindsay Cotter, says “the first two month of this year saw 68,326 passengers use YXS, compared to 63,205 during the same period in 2011. It is great to see the airport bustling with activity; at this rate we will surpass the annual 400,000 passenger mark once again” says Cotter.

In 2011, passenger traffic hit over 402,000 passengers; a 3.1% increase over 2010 with the bulk of the increase taking place in the last quarter of the year. With this increase in traffic, The Prince George Airport Authority worked with WestJet to relocate their counters to a less congested part of the departures area to enhance the checking in experience onsite.

Strategically located on the North Pacific Corridor and on Great Circle air routing – the Prince George Airport Authority is an integral part of the Asia Pacific Gateway linking the economies of Asia and North America. The airport with Canada’s third longest commercial runway offers carriers flying trans-pacific routings a Canadian alternative to traditional airport gateways.