WEYBURN - Weyburn area residents and businesses were urged to consider using the Regina Airport more often for their flight needs, a luncheon hosted by the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce was told on Friday.
James Bogusz, the CEO and president of the Regina Airport Authority, was the guest speaker, with a number of airport staff and board members also on hand for the luncheon, hosted at the Weyburn Legion Hall.
“This airport is not Regina’s airport, it’s southern Saskatchewan’s airport,” said Bogusz. “Weyburn matters.”
He noted that Weyburn area residents do have other options, such as going down to Williston or Minot to catch a flight.
“We hope you’ll consider using our airport. We have to make sure we do our part,” said Bogusz.
He explained that the airport is a private not-for-profit business which was established in 1999, and was given an 80-year lease to operate, with 55 years left.
The Regina Airport is the 16th busiest airport in Canada with 1.2 million travelers going through at peak year, and has an annual revenue of $33 million.
Currently, Air Canada has 38 per cent of the seats available on flights out of Regina, while Westjet has over 60 per cent of the seats.
Bogusz said when Air Canada is flying, they provide flights to Toronto and Vancouver, with a focus on Montreal, and are a great partner of the airport.
He noted he had some top executives from Air Canada visit the facility on Aug. 28, along with the Regina Chamber of Commerce.
“Southern Saskatchewan matters to them. They talked about the importance of southern Saskatchewan, and they appreciate what we can do. For example, we keep our fees low,” he said.
As an authority, Bogusz said they do what they can to encourage airlines to provide flights, such as by keeping their fees low, but they can’t force any airline to fly out of Regina, as they have to be able to make a profit to provide flights from here.
A piece of good news is that Air Canada is providing 24 per cent more seats out of Regina, with more seats on flights to Vancouver and Toronto.
In talking about Westjet, Bogusz noted that having more airlines available at the airport does not necessarily translate to lower fares.
“The seats is what we aspire for,” he said, noting a popular offering by Westjet was a summer series of flights from Regina to Kelowna, along with flights to the U.S. with a share agreement with Delta Airlines. The arrangement is for a flight to Minneapolis, Minn., and from there flights on Delta to about 70 U.S. destinations are available.
A piece of good news for Regina is that by the end of October, Regina will be the only area airport with daily service to the U.S., while Saskatoon’s airport will go back to three days a week over the winter.
Westjet has increased their seat capacity out of Regina by 32 per cent year over year, noted Bogusz, compared to a 24 per cent increase for Saskatoon.
As Calgary is the headquarters for Westjet, that airline is the best service to that airport, where Air Canada has cut service to Calgary from eight Canadian cities, including from Regina. By flying into Calgary, customers can then fly to Japan or European destinations with one-stop flights, as the Boeing 787 planes are based out of Calgary.
Bogusz shared that the numbers for August were just released, and the Regina Airport is at 102 per cent of their 2019 numbers, showing they have rebounded well from the decline caused by COVID in 2020-21.
While the airport is a not-for-profit company, they do charge a $30 fee on every airline seat, and Bogusz noted, this is what pays for the projects, services and upgrades to the airport. Asked about what fees are charged for each plane that lands, he said they are $1,000 for a 737, and $1,500 for an international flight. All fees charged are publicly posted on the Regina Airport’s website.
Updating the audience on projects at the Regina Airport, Bogusz said the big one this year was repaving of a runway, as they redid 7,901 feet at a cost of $26.5 million, which was shared with the federal government. He pointed out that the feds abandoned the Regina airport during COVID, but are now back in providing shared grants to upgrade infrastructure.
The airport has also upgraded their website and fees have been lowered, plus updated kiosks have been installed in the terminal for passengers’ use.
