No.P004/97 
For release March 4, 1997

AIR PASSENGER TRAFFIC SOARS IN VICTORIA

David Anderson, Minister of Transport and Victoria MP, announced today that a record 978,625 passengers travelled through the Victoria International Airport in 1996 - a 19.3% increase over 1995. This trend is continuing in 1997 with a 21.6% increase in January 1997 compared to January 1996.

"This is great news for Victoria," said Mr. Anderson, "especially in light of the scheduled transfer of the airport to local control this Spring. With the new Victoria Airport Authority's aggressive marketing plan and the Federal Government's Open Skies initiative I'm sure that the airport's passenger traffic will continue to increase, creating greater business opportunities and jobs for Victorians."

The previous record for passenger traffic at Victoria Airport was set in 1995, when 820,185 passengers travelled through the airport.

In other airport news, WestJet Airlines will celebrate its first anniversary at Victoria International Airport on March 7, 1997. The new airline flies Boeing 737 aircraft daily from Victoria International Airport to a variety of destinations, including Edmonton and Kelowna.

On April 6, 1997 Canadian Airlines International will begin offering daily Airbus A320 service from Victoria to Toronto via Calgary. The flight to Calgary/Toronto will depart at 7:25 a.m. and return from Toronto/Calgary at 8:00 p.m. The Airbus 320 replaces the Canadian Regional Fokker F28 to Calgary.

Horizon Air has announced it will discontinue the U.S. Customs and Immigration stop in Port Angeles on its six daily Victoria-Seattle flights and operate all of the flights nonstop starting March 30. The change cuts 35 minutes off the flight time from Victoria to Seattle. All Horizon Air flights from Victoria International Airport are operated with de Havilland Dash 8 turboprops.

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Contact:

Laurie Brown
Victoria International Airport
(250) 363-6600

David Hurford
Minister's Office, Victoria
(250) 363-3600

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