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Chief Executive Ocer Letter
I love to travel and I love to travel from Charlottetown
because of the all-round ease and convenience of flying from
a small airport and the people that work hard every day to
accomplish this. Our Travel Stories campaign this year has
attracted a lot of attention, not only inspiring Islanders about
the wonderful global experiences possible through air travel,
but reminding Islanders that Charlottetown Airport – their
airport – is a convenient connection to the world.
We work hard to grow air access because passengers are
the lifeblood of our business. Generating passenger trac
is all about convenience, choice, eciency and friendliness.
It’s a competitive business as travellers do have options.
I’m tremendously proud of our airport team and the quality
of service oered, which is reflected in the record 317,827
passengers moving through Charlottetown Airport in 2014.
That’s the first time in the history of the airport that the
300,000 passenger movement mark has been broken.
We’re also pleased that our team’s eorts are recognized
within the community. We were extremely proud to be
recognized as the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of
Commerce Excellence in Business Award Winner for 2014.
Charlottetown Airport is a community airport, with the
community being Prince Edward Island from tip-to-tip. We’re an
integral part of the community and we continue to build on our
commitment to support worthy community initiatives.
In 2014, the second annual flypei Runway Run in support of
Habitat for Humanity PEI was a great success. The Charlottetown
Airport team rose to the ALS ice bucket challenge as well, with
our donation going to ALS Canada in memory of former Airport
Authority board member Bob Bateman. We were also very
pleased to be a sponsor of the PEI 2014 150th Charlottetown
Conference anniversary celebrations and the East Coast Music
Awards.
While the airport did not have any major capital projects this
past year, we did invest over one million dollars in repairs,
rehabilitation and new equipment. Being diligent on maintenance
and staying ahead with asphalt crack sealing and upgrades
annually ensures that we maintain a safe airport for our airline
partners and passengers.
Once again we want to recognize the support of the City of
Charlottetown and the Province of Prince Edward Island through
grants in lieu of property tax. This support recognizes our
partners’ belief in Charlottetown Airport as an integral part of our
provincial economic engine and we would not be where we are
today without these valuable partners.
Looking ahead to the 2015 summer season we are anticipating
a slight decrease in overall seat capacity compared to 2014. Air
Canada will make slight adjustments to the extra capacity that
was added for the 2014 celebrations, but we are excited about
WestJet increasing their aircraft size for the summer season,
which helps to oset this loss in capacity.
I would like to thank our dedicated team, airline partners,
suppliers, tenants and contractors for their contribution to
another successful year at Charlottetown Airport.
Sincerely,
Doug Newson, CEO