Winnipeg airport increasing ticket fee to help make up revenue lost due to COVID-19

Come September, it's going to be slightly more expensive to fly through the Winnipeg airport.

The Winnipeg Airports Authority is increasing its airport improvement fee $13, from $25 to $38.

The fees help pay for maintaining airport infrastructure and capital project costs at the James Armstrong Richardson International Airport.

The fees don't go toward operating costs; they pay for the infrastructure needed to keep the airport open and operating, said Tyler MacAfee, vice-president of communications for the airports authority.

Close to 95 per cent of the airport's revenue is directly linked to air traffic, which has nearly ground to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, so the airport had to find a way to make up the difference, MacAfee said.

Air traffic at the airport has droppedabout 90 per cent, going from about 12,500 passengers each dayto fewer than 100 some days, he said.

"It's going to take a long time for that to come back," he said.

"We don't want to have to charge additional fees. That's not the desire in this, but we have to find a way to make sure that we remain sustainable."