Rent reduced for riders, early budget items approved by Regina Council
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Regina's city council covered a lot of ground in a three-hour meeting on Wednesday. With all members in attendance, coun...
Regina International Airport is nearly at a standstill due to COVID-19.
While CEO James Bogusz told the Greg Morgan Morning Show the most important part is that everyone has stayed healthy at the airport, things are tough business-wise.
“Our airport is a not-for-profit organization and we oversee the operation of the airport. In terms of passenger traffic, we’ve been seeing anything from one to, at best, five per cent of what we would normally have at this time of year. It has been incredibly challenging,” Bogusz said Monday.
During most days there are only two or three flights scheduled to depart from the airport. On Monday, Bogusz said there were three departures scheduled — to Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver.
“On those two or three that might be scheduled, quite often we’re seeing one, two or even all of them cancelling depending on how much load would be booked for that day,” Bogusz said.
While there are barely any customers wandering the halls of the airport, Bogusz said there are still a few people staff still need to attend to.
“We do have to keep in mind that essential travel is still available within the country,” he said. “You’re going to have particular people for serious business reasons, perhaps a significant family emergency, but there has really been no travel for pleasure of course.”
Phase 1 of the Re-Open Saskatchewan is set to begin Monday. Bogusz admits there are unique challenges for an airport.
“I think the peace (of mind) about being on the aircraft is going to be a challenge given it’s close confines but we’re hopeful that with flattening the curve people will feel more comfortable in the future,” he said.
Bogusz said the airport does have plenty of sanitizer along with other cleaning products to help keep the airport clean during the pandemic.