Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport

YWG is a major contributor to the Manitoba economy – generating employment in sectors such as air services, facilities, hospitality, manufacturing, and ground transportation. YWG provides essential infrastructure that links Winnipeg and other Manitoba communities to cities around the world, making it an important component of Canada’s trade and commerce with other countries.

Passenger traffic at YWG has grown considerably over the last decade, fuelled largely by increasing demand for domestic travel. The airport was on-track for another year of growth in 2019 but was set back by the grounding of the 737 MAX in March of the same year. The grounding forced airlines to cut capacity on many routes and adjust flight schedules to accommodate the reduced availability of aircraft.

Figure 1-1 displays the passenger traffic at YWG from 2010 to 2019. YWG is the seventh busiest airport in Canada by passenger volume (see Figure 1-2).

Figure 1‑1: Growth of Air Passenger Traffic at YWG, 2010-2019

Source: WAA.

Figure 1-2: Canada’s Busiest Airports by Passenger Volume, 2017 & 2018

Source: Airport websites, traffic statistics.

A summary of the summer air services to Winnipeg in July 2016 and July 2019 is outlined in Figure 1-3. The table suggests that carriers have added capacity on key domestic routes and increased services to Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Figure 1-3: Direct Non-stop Scheduled Seats Arriving at YWG, July 2016 and July 2019

Country

City

Weekly Seat Capacity 2016

Weekly Seat Capacity 2019

% Change

Canada

Abbotsford

0

756

N/A

 

Berens River

54

0

-100.0%

 

Calgary

8,550

8,731

2.1%

 

Churchill

504

546

8.3%

 

Cross Lake

70

0

-100.0%

 

Dryden

0

38

N/A

 

Edmonton

3,414

4,857

42.3%

 

Flin Flon

210

272

29.5%

 

Gillam

235

388

65.1%

 

Gods Lake Narrows

227

0

-100.0%

 

Gods River

76

0

-100.0%

 

Halifax

520

670

28.8%

 

Hamilton

0

1134

N/A

 

Island Lake/Garden H

348

0

-100.0%

 

Kelowna

0

567

N/A

 

Kenora

0

76

N/A

 

London, ON

893

0

-100.0%

 

Montreal-PET

3,010

3,520

16.9%

 

Norway House

168

0

-100.0%

 

Ottawa

2,112

2,282

8.0%

 

Oxford House

36

0

-100.0%

 

Pikangikum

54

0

-100.0%

 

Rankin Inlet

432

468

8.3%

 

Red Lake

342

323

-5.6%

 

Red Sucker Lake

139

0

-100.0%

 

Regina

1508

1092

-27.6%

 

Sanikiluaq

126

141

11.9%

 

Saskatoon

1824

936

-48.7%

 

Shamattawa

42

0

-100.0%

 

Ste Theresa Point

696

0

-100.0%

 

The Pas

294

252

-14.3%

 

Thompson

755

653

-13.5%

 

Thunder Bay

990

1092

10.3%

 

Toronto

15,348

14,235

-7.3%

 

Vancouver

5,117

6,321

23.5%

Canada Total

 

48,094

49,350

2.6%

United Kingdom

London, UK

262

262

0.0%

International Total

 

262

262

0.0%

United States

Chicago

1,000

700

-30.0%

 

Denver

700

700

0.0%

 

Las Vegas

298

268

-10.1%

 

Minneapolis/St. Paul

2,353

3,018

28.3%

Transborder Total

 

4,351

4,686

7.7%

Grand Total

 

52,707

54,298

3.0%

Source: Diio Mi based on summer services for the weeks of 11 July 2016 and 8 July 2019.