The Fort McMurray International Airport is seeing a slight increase in its passenger traffic four months into the new year.

Jessica Lipton, Manager of Marketing and Communications at the Fort McMurray International Airport, said that even with the steady increase in the new year, the airport is still only seeing about 60 per cent of passengers in comparison to 2019.

Looking at the numbers from 2021 to 2022 on a month-to-month basis, there is a slight increase in January, and almost double the number of travelers in April.

January: 2021 – 12,159 / 2022 – 18,219

February: 2021 – 11,357 / 2022 – 18,627

March: 2021 – 13,664 / 2022 – 22,875

April: 2021 – 12,817 / 2022 – 23,911

Lipton says that when Canada’s re-entry testing requirement was lifted, YMM Airport saw a spike in passenger traffic.

In total, the Fort McMurray International Airport has seen 83,632 passengers from January to April of 2022, an increase of 67 per cent from 2021.

She says that the team at the Fort McMurray International Airport is working closely with several airlines and air service providers to explore new air service and frequency opportunities.