St. John's International Airport 'keeping the lights on' after $22M gift from Ottawa

The federal government is gifting the St. John's International Airport millions for repairs and upgrades following two years of steep declines in revenues and traffic.

Ottawa has earmarked $22 million to repave runways, improve lighting and signage, and upgrade the airport's heavy equipment fleet, including de-icing machines.

"This airport is crucial for the region and our country," said federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, addressing reporters Tuesday morning.

Alghabrasaid the money includes $3.6 million already dispensed to the airport for operational costs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

St. John's International Airport Authority CEO Peter Avery said the airport is, for now, simply focused on getting back to its pre-pandemicbaseline.

Even with the extra money, "this year will be a little leaner," he said, adding that management hopes upgrades will attract new airlines and routes to the beleaguered flight hub."That's going to be our strongest path forward."

The airport has been dealt several blows for the last two years, grappling with the temporarydisappearanceof major routesamid various COVID-19 waves.

It also cancelled most passenger flights for twodays in January due to staffing issues amongits firefighters.

Avery said it would be "several years" before the airport returns to 2019 levels, and said it operated at a 75 per cent decline in 2021.

"We're not in expansion mode anymore," he said."We're really about keeping the lights on and keeping the airport safe and operational."

The airport is projecting a 50to 60 per cent decline in traffic this year.

"We do see a brighter summer ahead," he said.

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