Despite rising numbers of both departing and arriving passengers, conditions appear to be improving at Canadian airports.
For the week of July 25-31 there was a daily average of more than 165,000 passengers departing through Canadian airports, approximately 13,500 more passengers per day than the previous week. An average of over 90,000 passengers arrive from transborder or overseas destinations, close to 4,000 more than the previous week.
Passenger security screening wait times are improving, with 86% of passengers screened within 15 minutes by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), an improvement from 84 percent the previous week (July 25-31).
As well, the number of aircraft being held on the tarmac at Toronto Pearson International Airport has decreased dramatically since the peak of 373 the week of May 23-29. For the week of July 25-31, just 19 aircraft were held on the tarmac at YYZ.
The Government of Canada and air industry partners continue to collaborate with the goals of increasing resources and streamlining processes across the air system to ease airport congestion and help keep travellers moving.
Last week, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra met with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to discuss actions surrounding airport delays, including the path forward to reduce wait times at preclearance locations across Canada for US departures and the necessity to reopen NEXUS and FAST enrollment centers and urgently process the backlog of applications.
Minister Alghabra also met with the leadership of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, Air Canada and WestJet to discuss the recovery of the air sector and the solutions they are implementing to reduce wait times for their travellers, and actions taken to continue to reduce the numbers of delayed or cancelled flights, and reduce the incidence of mishandled baggage.
Some of the current initiatives to improve the airport situation include:
-- The Canadian Border Services Agency reports that it is making more border services officers available at the most congested airports, has temporarily re-hired retired officers and has hired additional student border services officers.
-- The Greater Toronto Airports Authority and the CBSA added 10 new eGates and 30 more primary inspection kiosks at Toronto Pearson International Airport over the last week of July.
-- The CBSA says it continues to monitor and prepare for peak arrival times to maximize efficiencies and ensure a smoother and more efficient flow of passengers at airports.
-- Travellers arriving at YYZ, YUL and YVR can now save time by using the optional Advance CBSA Declaration feature in ArriveCAN to submit their customs and immigration declaration prior to arrival. Early usage data indicates that using the advance option reduces the amount of time a traveller spends at a kiosk by roughly one third. In the coming months, the optional feature will also become available to travellers arriving at the Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Billy Bishop Toronto City, Ottawa, Québec City and Halifax international airports.
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