Airports feeling wind under their wings after announcement PAL Airlines will expand flights

Maritime airports hopeful for recovery The addition of flights by PAL Airlines could be a sign of recovery for regional airports. Kyle Moore reports.

SYDNEY, N.S. — Airports around here are hoping the addition of flights by PAL Airlines is a sign of recovery for the aviation industry, which has been hit hard by the pandemic.

More than 50 percent of the workforce has lost their jobs, but employment opportunities are returning as flights take to the air in the coming weeks.

Sydney's airport will soon see traffic both on the tarmac and at the ticket counter.

PAL Airlines will lift off May 31, offering commercial service to and from the island for the first time in more than three months.

"It's certainly the news that we have been hoping for and advocating for since the end of 2020 when we found out all commercial service was being suspended from our local airport," said Kathleen Yurchesyn of the Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce.

With the loss of daily flights from Air Canada and WestJet across the Maritimes, people who work in the aviation industry in the region have been left without work.

"Over 50 per cent of our sector is out of work," said Monette Pasher, the executive director of the Atlantic Canada Airports Association."I think as we take steps towards recovery and see some of our air services come back, hopefully more people will be re-employed in our industry."

Fredericton International Airport will also benefit from the Newfoundland-based airline with PAL's direct flights to Deer Lake and St. John's, starting next month.

With three weekly direct flights to Ottawa and Halifax beginning in August, it all translates into much-needed employment.

"PAL Airlines will bring in someone and then it creates jobs because you have a ground handler that handles the air service," said Johanne Gallant, the CEO of Fredericton International Airport.

Gallant says PAL Airlines has provided cautious optimism for an industry paralyzed by the pandemic.

"The Halifax service and the Ottawa service, these are two routes that were served by Air Canada and they said they wouldn't be renewing that service short-term, so this will definitely fill a need for the region," Gallant said.

Back in Sydney, the airport will now be home to three commercial carriers when Air Canada and WestJet return in June.