‘We’re really turning the corner’: WAA logs jump in revenue, net income

For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Winnipeg Airports Authority has announced a year of net gains.

The WAA oversees the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport. In 2023, it clocked a net income of $14.8 million — a drastic change from the loss recorded each of the prior three years, and from 2019’s net income of $3.4 million.

Meantime, last year’s passenger traffic nearly met pre-pandemic levels. The WAA counted 4.09 million travellers, or roughly 91 per cent of 2019 numbers.

“In isolation, 2023 appears fully recovered,” Nicole Stefaniuk, WAA chief financial officer, told attendees at the WAA annual general meeting Thursday. The statement came with a note of caution, however.

The airport authority estimates it’ll take another 12 years, until 2036, to recover all revenue lost during the pandemic.

It still faces a mountain of debt: it took on $100 million during the pandemic, on top of nearly $30 million in annual debt servicing established during the airport’s redevelopment, Stefaniuk noted.

The WAA has paid down $24.4 million of long-term debt since the pandemic debt was issued, according to spokesman Michel Rosset. The authority refinanced the debt last year at an interest rate of 4.78 per cent — an “attractive rate in this high-interest rate environment,” Rosset wrote in an email.

Ongoing inflationary pressure continues to affect Winnipeg’s airport, noted Nick Hays, WAA president.

He outlined a “lag effect”: some contracts are renewed in 2023 and 2024, reflecting higher prices.

Despite higher costs, the organization has scheduled a number of capital projects. It expects to break ground on its 142,500-square-foot air cargo facility this summer and plans to spend upwards of $36 million repaving one of its major runways.

There are more direct-flight options on the runways than there were pre-pandemic. Hays touted 47 destinations reachable directly from Winnipeg, an increase of 12 per cent from 2022.

“We’re really turning the corner, coming out of the pandemic,” he told a crowd at Thursday’s meeting.

Over the past 12 months, airliners have unveiled direct flights to Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Nashville, Montreal and, more frequently, Ottawa. Toronto-based Porter Airlines is now offering flights to/from Winnipeg.

The WAA counted $163.9 million in revenue in 2023, a $32.1 million increase from the year prior. It’s a higher number than 2019, 2020 and 2021. The authority’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization reached $75 million, up from each of the four prior years.

A majority of WAA revenue comes from airport improvement fees, which are tacked on to travellers’ flights. The WAA increased the fee to $38 from $25 during the pandemic.

Operating costs also rose in 2023. Stefaniuk pointed to a higher inflationary environment.

The WAA paid $75 million in operating expenses, with salaries, services and repairs consuming the bulk of the expenses (about 67 per cent). The number doesn’t include ground lease rent and depreciation.

Cargo freight, which took off in Winnipeg during the pandemic, saw less action year-over-year in 2023. Cargo landings decreased 5.9 per cent, and gross tonnage dropped by 0.5 per cent. Hays attributes the change to “a shift in consumer behaviour” post-pandemic.

Some of the online shopping popularized during lockdown days has disappeared, he noted.

“What you’re seeing here is broadly in line with what was going on in the global air freight network,” Hays added.

Last year, the WAA unrolled a number of environmental, social and governance actions, including a whistleblower policy where staff can report unethical practices. It’s “considered good practice,” Hays said.

Winnipeg’s largest airport experienced its busiest day on record Aug. 14, 2023: 15,406 passengers strode through.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com