Holiday traffic picking up at Halifax airport, but fewer passengers heading to the U.S.

Trips from Canada to the United States are down compared to last year.

Things are picking up at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport as holiday travel nears its peak.

“This week is actually our busiest, December 19, so this coming Friday heading into the weekend we’re expecting to see about 5,600 passengers arriving and departing, pass through the terminal,” says Mikela Sani-Routledge, a communications advisor with the Halifax airport.

That number has been growing year-after-year as we move further away from the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Exchange student Miguel Gonzalez is looking forward to heading home to Spain to visit his family and escape the Canadian winter.

“Here it’s so cold and, I prefer the hot,” says Gonzalez.

And he’s not the only person looking for warmer weather.

“We actually just launched our new Air Canada service from Halifax to Bahamas on December 5, so we’re seeing a lot of up-take on those,” Sani-Rutledge says

One destination noticeably absent from Canadian itineraries is the United States. In September, the number of return trips from the U.S. by Canadians dropped nearly 31 per cent compared to the same time last year.

While cruises remain popular, time that’s often tagged on to most trips is declining.

“What we are noticing is that people are spending less time pre-or post-cruise in the U.S. That could be due to the geopolitical situation, or it could be due to the dollar. People are just looking to spend less money,” says CAA Travel spokesperson Julia Kent.

Another group staying away from our southern neighbours is those who typically spend winters there.

“One other thing of note is that snowbirds, we are seeing less people choosing to go down as snowbirds this year than in previous years. So that is a little bit different than we’ve seen over the past number of years,” Kent says.

Kent says snowbirds have either decided to travel within Canada this winter or head to one of the many other destinations offered from Maritime airports.

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