Weekly aircraft movements, December 28, 2019, to April 24, 2020
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Released: 2020-05-07
Total aircraft itinerant movements at major airports in Canada plunged by almost 50% in the week following the announced closure of the Canadian border to most foreign travellers.
Five weeks following the announcement and closure, total aircraft movements had declined by 72% during the week ending April 24.
Infographic 1
Weekly itinerant aircraft movements in Canada, December 28, 2019, to April 18, 2020 (week starting)
Canadian government restricts border
On March 16, 2020, the Government of Canada announced that it was closing the border to most foreign travellers effective March 18, to limit the spread of COVID-19. This had an immediate impact on itinerant aircraft movements (flights from one airport to another) at airports with NAV CANADA towers. Compared with the week of the announcement and closure (March 14 to 20), total aircraft movements (i.e., take-offs and landings) shrank by 49% during the following week (March 21 to 27).
Five weeks after the closure (week of April 18 to 24), the total number of aircraft itinerant movements had fallen 72% compared with the week ending March 20. While domestic itinerant movements (within Canada) had decreased 67%, both transborder (between Canada and the United States) and international (between Canada and countries other than the United States) movements fell by 89%, again compared with the week when the restrictions were announced and implemented.
Note to readers
With the introduction of travel restrictions and subsequent flight cancellations, Statistics Canada has produced weekly aircraft movement estimates to assess the impact on Canadian airports with NAV CANADA air traffic control towers. These weekly estimates are drawn from the same source as the Monthly Aircraft Movements program (2715), which is available two months after the reference period. Since the weekly estimates are released before the two month period is over, there are some differences in methods and processing. As such, the weekly estimates do not share the same quality as the monthly statistics and should be viewed as preliminary estimates only.
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; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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