To say the COVID-19 pandemic has been bad for business is a gross understatement.
The travel industry has been devastated by the pandemic and the Nanaimo Airport has incurred major losses.
CAO Dave Devana said passenger numbers have fallen through the floor.
“By the end of November (last year), we had 449,684 passengers, this year we’ve had 165,152 so, you know, almost 300,000 fewer passengers than we had last year,” said Devana.
Monthly passenger numbers ranged from around 11,000 to 16,000 between August and November. August was the best month in that category.
Devana said the pandemic has seen a huge discrepancy between the revenue forecast for 2020 and reality.
“We were expecting to have a profit of 2.5 million dollars and we’re going to have a loss of 1.4 million,” said Devana. “The majority of our revenues are from passenger fees and parking fees.”
While the numbers have bounced back slightly from the spring (95 percent decrease), they are still well below last year (nearly 70 percent decrease).
