Travelling light: Lack of activity 'surreal' at Charlottetown airport, CEO says

There are no bags coming off the conveyer belt, nobody in Hawaiian shirts lining up for a trip south and no belt buckles setting off the metal detector.

It's been quiet at the Charlottetown airport during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the day when there are no flights coming and going.

"It's really surreal, to be honest," said airport CEO Doug Newson. "If you come here during the day, typically the lights are out, there are very few people here. The few flights that we do have are in the evening, so you know, we're basically down to one flight a day."

It all translates to about a 90 per cent decrease in traffic over last year, which is why Newson and other airport executives were watching the federal government's fiscal update closely on Monday night.

Ottawa is offering around $1 billion for airports, airport infrastructure and regional airlines. A good start, Newson said, but more details are needed to see how helpful those programs will be in the long run.

"The devil's always in the details with some of these programs and so we just want to see ... how are we eligible, what are the mechanics, what are the specifics of these sorts of the program so that we can capitalize on them."

Newson said the industry is resilient and he is confident it will recover from the global pandemic, but for airports to be healthy, it needs healthy airlines. The sooner that can be resolved, the better, he said.

"The big uncertainty is, obviously, what does the airline industry look like coming out of this?" he said.

"We want to make sure they get the supports they require as well so that we have a viable airline industry for our passengers."

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