Aircraft movement and civil aviation statistics, April 2024
Released: 2024-06-27
Highlights
In April, aircraft movements at Canada's major and select small airports totalled 486,993, up 7.4% from April 2023. Itinerant movements increased 5.7% year over year to 322,319 in April 2024, while local movements rose 10.9% to 164,674.
At the same time, major Canadian airlines flew 7.0 million passengers on scheduled and charter services in April, with a passenger load factor of 84.1%.
Consult the new Aviation Data Visualization Hub to explore aircraft movement statistics and monthly civil aviation statistics in an interactive format.
Widespread gains, as domestic movements rebound
Aircraft movements increased in all sectors in April 2024 compared with the same month in 2023. Domestic movements increased 5.3% compared with April 2023 to 269,604 in April 2024, with some of the largest gains being reported by airports in British Columbia, led by Pitt Meadows, Boundary Bay and Abbotsford.
In April, other international movements (outside the United States) were up 12.0% year over year to 17,621, while transborder movements to and from the United States increased 5.5% to 35,094. Transborder movements continued to lag pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, down 13.4% from April 2019, whereas other international movements remained above April 2019 levels, increasing 5.5%.
Local movements increased 10.9% year over year to 164,674 in April 2024. The gain can be largely attributed to increased flight school activity and helicopter training.
Chart 1
Total aircraft movements at major and select small airports, by class of operation
For the second consecutive month, airports in British Columbia reported the highest number of aircraft movements, with 137,936 in April, up 15.8% over the previous year. Airports in Ontario were the next highest, with 119,809 movements, a year-over-year decline of 2.5%. Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International remained the busiest airport in Canada, with 32,112 movements; the next four busiest airports were all located in British Columbia.
Major airlines' operating and financial statistics
The seven Canadian Level I air carriers flew 7.0 million passengers on scheduled and charter services in April, 9.9% more than in April 2023, when there were six Level I carriers. One Level II air carrier was reclassified to Level I in 2024.
The number of passenger-kilometres in April was 18.6 billion, with a capacity of 22.2 billion available seat-kilometres. As a result, the passenger load factor (the ratio of passenger-kilometres to available seat-kilometres) was 84.1%, down from 85.6% recorded in the same month one year earlier.
Chart 2
Passenger load factor, Canadian air carriers, Level I
Each passenger travelled an average of 2,663 kilometres in April, up 2.1% from April 2023.
Level I carriers flew 177,000 hours in April 2024 and generated $2.3 billion in total operating revenue.
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Note to readers
As of reference month January 2024, Statistics Canada publishes a new consolidated monthly release called "Aircraft movement and civil aviation statistics." The new release covers the following survey programs:
- Aircraft movement statistics (survey number 2715, tables 23-10-0296-01 to 23-10-0304-01)
- Monthly civil aviation statistics (survey number 5026, table 23-10-0079-01).
The tables associated with the above survey programs remain unchanged and will be updated as usual. Definitions, data sources and methods for each survey program remain available by accessing each survey's respective number.
Consult the new Aviation Data Visualization Hub to explore data from Aircraft movement statistics and Monthly civil aviation statistics in an interactive format.
The aviation statistics program uses respondent (Monthly civil aviation statistics) and administrative (Aircraft movement statistics) data.
An aircraft movement is defined as a take-off, landing or simulated approach by an aircraft, as defined by NAV CANADA.
An itinerant movement is the initial take-off or the final landing of an aircraft.
A local movement is an aircraft conducting the following airport activities: touch-and-go, stop-and-go, simulated approach without landing, low approach, pull up while on final approach or missed approach. Local movements are often carried out during training flights (touch-and-go), equipment tests, etc.
The Monthly Civil Aviation Survey covers all Canadian Level I air carriers: Air Canada (including Air Canada Rouge), Air Transat, Flair, Jazz, Porter, Sunwing and WestJet (including WestJet Encore and WestJet Link). The number of air carriers increased from six in 2023 to seven in 2024 because one Level II air carrier was reclassified to Level I.
The average passenger trip length is calculated by dividing the number of passenger-kilometres by the number of passengers. Trips across Canada and around the world are included in this calculation.
The data in this monthly release are not seasonally adjusted.
Data are subject to revisions.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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