Annual civil aviation statistics, 2023
Released: 2025-01-17
Highlights
In 2023, Canadian air carriers transported 89.8 million passengers, representing 95.4% of the passengers flown in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Operating revenue earned by Canadian air carriers totalled $36.0 billion in 2023, a 32.3% increase from 2022.
Profits back in the air
In 2023, Canadian airlines recorded profits for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. Net operating income stood at $3.2 billion, nearly one-and-a-half times the $2.2 billion in profits earned in 2019. Total operating revenue generated by Level I to III Canadian air carriers in 2023 ($36.0 billion) was 22.1% higher than that in 2019.
In 2023, passenger revenue reached $31.1 billion, up 39.4% from 2022, representing 86.2% of total operating revenue. Cargo revenue fell 11.1% from 2022 to $2.3 billion in 2023 and accounted for 6.4% of total operating revenue, which is within the 5% to 7% range of operating revenue observed prior to the pandemic.
Chart 1
Annual operating revenue by source, Canadian air carriers
Operating expenses climb
In 2023, operating expenses reached $32.9 billion, up by nearly one-fifth (+19.8%) from 2022. As such, the operating ratio—operating expenses expressed as a proportion of operating revenue—was 91.2 cents in 2023. In other words, 91.2 cents from each operating revenue dollar were used to cover operating expenses.
Aircraft operations accounted for more than two-fifths (43.8%) of operating expenses, followed by all other operating expenses (including general administration) (35.4%) and maintenance cost of flight equipment (11.5%).
Chart 2
Turbo fuel consumption and expenses, Canadian air carriers
Canadian Level I to III air carriers consumed 8.0 billion litres of turbo fuel in 2023, almost 1 billion more litres than in 2022. The $8.5 billion spent on fuel costs in 2023 accounted for 25.8% of total operating expenses, with lower year-over-year aviation fuel prices (-16.8%), as reported by the Industrial Product Price Index. The number of hours flown in 2023 was 3.0 million.
In 2023, total employment in the airline industry (75,486) rose by more than 10,000 from 2022, while wages and salaries ($6.3 billion) represented nearly one-fifth (19.1%) of the industry's total operating expenses.
Total assets of Canadian Level I to III air carriers stood at $50.4 billion in 2023.
Passenger volumes rise sharply
Canadian air carriers transported a total of 89.8 million scheduled and charter passengers in 2023, 32.5% higher than in 2022 and reaching 95.4% of the 94.1 million passengers flown in 2019.
Chart 3
Passengers carried, Canadian air carriers
In 2023, the number of passengers on scheduled flights was 87.1 million, while 2.8 million passengers flew on chartered flights. Domestic passenger traffic (within Canada) was 44.5 million, up 23.9% from 2022, while international traffic rose sharply to 45.4 million passengers (+42.1%).
Finally, carriers recorded 228.4 billion passenger-kilometres flown on scheduled and charter operations during 2023 and, on average, each passenger travelled 2,542 kilometres.
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Note to readers
This release covers Canadian Level I, II and III air carriers.
Level I air carriers include every Canadian air carrier that, in the calendar year before the year in which information is provided, transported at least 2 million revenue passengers or at least 400 000 tonnes of cargo.
Level II air carriers include every Canadian air carrier that, in the calendar year before the year in which information is provided, transported (a) at least 100,000, but fewer than 2 million, revenue passengers, or (b) at least 50 000 tonnes, but less than 400 000 tonnes, of cargo.
Level III air carriers include every Canadian air carrier that (a) is not a Level I or II air carrier, and (b) in the calendar year before the year in which information is provided, realized gross revenues of at least $2 million for the provision of air services for which the air carrier held a licence.
Net non-operating income and loss are from commercial ventures that are not part of air transportation services, from other revenue and expenses attributable to financing or other activities that are not an integral part of air transportation, and from special recurrent items of a non-periodic nature. Non-operating income can be, for example, capital gains from the sale of aircraft, interest income and foreign exchange adjustment, while non-operating loss can include capital losses and interest on bank loans and other debt.
The average passenger trip length is calculated by dividing the number of passenger-kilometres by the number of passengers. Trips across Canada and the world are included in this calculation.
Data from previous years have been revised.
Because of rounding, components may not add up to the total.
These figures are comparable with the preliminary estimates presented in the Annual civil aviation statistics: First look, 2023.
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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