Charlottetown Airport looks ahead to strong summer despite tense Canada-U.S. tensions

Thinh Nguyen · CBC News

· Posted: May 06, 2025 2:05 PM EDT | Last Updated: 35 minutes ago

Charlottetown Airport is preparing for what it expects volition beryllium a beardown summertime question play adjacent arsenic relations betwixt Canada and the United States stay strained.

Tensions person been rising the past fewer months betwixt the 2 countries, with U.S. President Donald Trump making repeated threats to enforce dense tariffs connected Canadian imports and musing astir annexing Canada arsenic the 51st U.S. state.

At the aforesaid time, determination are reports of foreigners, including Canadians, being held up astatine the U.S. borderline arsenic officials fortify information pursuing Trump's pledge to ace down connected immigration.

These developments person caused galore Canadians to reconsider going to the United States.

But Charlottetown Airport Authority CEO Doug Newson said there's a metallic lining to the existent situation.

"We heard contiguous from Porter, they're seeing an interaction connected short-term bookings to the U.S., truthful [they] and different carriers are redeploying their craft and capableness to Canada," Newson said Tuesday aft the airdrome authority's yearly nationalist meeting, which included representatives from Porter Airlines.

"Flair and Porter are some large examples of that, wherever we're seeing further flights this summertime that we weren't expecting."

Flair Airlines, which had dropped Prince Edward Island from its routes erstwhile it announced its 2025 docket precocious past year, volition beryllium backmost connected the tarmac astatine Charlottetown Airport this summer, successful portion due to the fact that the hose is projecting little request for flights to the United States.

Porter Airlines is besides adding a caller nonstop way betwixt Charlottetown and Toronto this summer, connected apical of its existing year-round work betwixt P.E.I.'s superior metropolis and Ottawa, which offers up to 2 flights daily.

"There's inactive tons of uncertainty successful our industry, but we're inactive precise optimistic that, you know, it'll beryllium a beardown summer," Newson said.

Charlottetown Airport saw different record-breaking twelvemonth successful 2024, with 410,773 passengers passing done — a 2 per cent summation implicit 2023, which itself acceptable a caller record. 

The P.E.I. airdrome is the lone 1 successful Atlantic Canada that has gotten backmost to pre-pandemic levels, Newson said.

Major expansion, rider acquisition upgrades

Looking ahead, the airdrome has respective large projects underway, including a $40-million terminal enlargement to accommodate the increasing fig of passengers.

Newson said Phase 1B of the terminal enlargement is acceptable to wrapper up aboriginal this year, portion plan enactment for Phases 2 and 3 is nearing completion. The full enlargement is expected to decorativeness by 2027.

Beyond construction, the airdrome is besides investing successful improvements to the rider experience.

"We've invested successful a caller acquisition excellence programme for our tenants and our unit to supply that level of work that radical expect erstwhile they travel done the airport," Newson said.

"We're putting successful a caller parking strategy this summer. We brought backmost our therapy dogs — conscionable small things similar that we're ever trying to amended on, truthful that erstwhile radical bash travel done the airport... they tin person a large acquisition and privation to usage YYG successful the future."

The airdrome authorization has besides launched a caller five-year accessibility plan, developed successful consultation with section assemblage groups, with yearly reports planned to way progress.

This week, the airdrome is rolling retired the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program.

"People that mightiness person a hidden disablement that whitethorn request much clip oregon a small spot of patience from staff, they tin get a lanyard, and truthful unit volition admit that they're portion of this program," the CEO said.