Traffic through Canadian airspace dropped by almost 75 per cent in May: NAV CANADA

An Air Canada plane takes off from the Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier Airport. The main runway at the airport is closed until the end of the summer, meaning some residents are going to see and hear a lot more air traffic. (FILE)

Calgary — A new report has indicated a massive drop in the number of planes flying over Canada, mainly because of the restrictions put in place for the COVID-19 pandemic.

NAV CANADA, an agency that provides air traffic control and other services throughout the country's domestic and international airspace, says the number of aircraft flying through Canadian airspace last month dropped by 73.6 per cent.

It's only slightly higher than the amount of traffic that came through in April.

The firm records the number of weighted charging units, which measure the number of flights, aircraft size and distance flown in Canadian airspace, NAV CANADA officials stated in a release.

(Supplied/NAV CANADA)

Some improvement in Calgary passenger traffic

After the Calgary International Airport announced it was projecting 65 per cent fewer guests last month because of the COVID-19 pandemic, airport officials say that forecast  held true but there has been an increase over the passenger numbers of April.

"We have seen departures increase from an average of 500 guests per day at the height of the pandemic, to about 1,000 now – so small improvement," said Reid Feist, external communications and media relations manager with the Calgary Airport Authority.

"Normally we would see about 24,500 guests depart a day based on 2019 passenger levels. That’s in line with our predictions of about 65 per cent fewer guests this year than last."

In April 2020, YYC saw just 67,000 guests arriving and departing through its terminals, the steepest decline in number it has seen in its history.

Updated numbers are expected later in June.