Feds airdrop $6 4M for Ottawa airport s Trillium Line station ottawacitizen.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ottawacitizen.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
It will take “several years” for the pandemic-battered Ottawa airport to restore its full complement of pre-COVID routes and get delayed infrastructure projects back on track, officials said this week after the facility presented a 2020 financial summary that was awash in red ink.
Ottawa International Airport Authority CEO Mark Laroche didn’t sugar-coat the impact of the pandemic on the facility’s bottom line during the airport’s annual general meeting on Thursday.
“We knew the impact (of COVID-19) would be devastating,” Laroche said. “What we could not have predicted was the magnitude.”
Noting total passenger volumes plummeted nearly 75 per cent compared with 2019, Laroche said the airport racked up a net loss of $51.2 million last year after posting a surplus of $5.1 million the previous year.
Airport has high hopes feds will fund LRT terminal despite no budget mention obj.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from obj.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
With his facility facing at least a $70-million shortfall this year amid the nosedive in air traffic during the pandemic, the CEO of the Ottawa International Airport Authority is calling for millions of dollars in federal and provincial aid to help finance the terminal’s planned LRT station and pay for rapid COVID-19 testing.
In a recent interview with OBJ, Mark Laroche said that just one million passengers are expected to pass through the Ottawa terminal in 2021, down from 1.4 million in 2020 and 5.1 million two years ago.
A non-profit organization, the airport authority generates virtually all of its revenues from landing fees charged to airlines, terminal and airport improvement fees levied on passengers as well as concessions and parking.
OTTAWA Canada’s latest move to control the spread of COVID-19 had those arriving at the Ottawa Airport Saturday holding off on making future plans to be back on a plane anytime soon. I would not travel for that, it would be expensive for me to pay for the hotel, said Ami Batavia, who was arriving in Ottawa after travelling from India. The federal government announced that in the coming weeks, travellers like Batavia will have to follow strict rules. They will have to spend their own money to quarantine at a hotel for at least three nights, and take a COVID test upon landing at their expense. The total cost could be thousands.