A passenger gets on board a flight departing from Lethbridge Airport.
Getting airborne is a little more challenging here in Lethbridge over the past few years. Flights from Lethbridge Airport have been reduced as less travellers are taking off from the local airport.
“In its heyday we had about 120-130,000 passengers a year. We’re down to 62-63,000,” said Lorne Hickey, Lethbridge County Reeve.
The city and county of Lethbridge are taking advantage of the facility to keep bringing passengers back.
They have put out a survey for the public to give feedback to express what upgrades and changes they want to see.
The county is wanting to make sure everyone is heard on the next step of developments.
“It’s time to go out and revisit that and to make sure this time we really included the travelling public as to what they would like to see at the airport,” said Hickey.
One of the biggest issues expressed has been once you have cleared security and in the waiting area to board passengers are limited to services.
“More vending food choices if you’re stuck here for a long time. [The airport has] always been hampered because there is no washroom past the security area,” said Judith Kulig.
She has reduced her travel over the past few years due scheduling and amenities at the airport.
“I don’t use it as often now as I once did. I probably use it three to four times a semester now whereas before I’d use it almost weekly,” added Kulig.
Local businesses have also had to adjust to the changes over the years to accommodate vacationers and being flexible with schedules.
“When you look at trying to get home from Calgary there’s a flight at 6:10 in the evening, well the next one isn’t till 11:30 p.m. You can drive, easily,” said Pat Johnson, owner of Flair Travel here in Lethbridge feeling pricing and scheduling must be friendlier for passengers.
The public can log on to complete the survey to give their input on future changes at Lethbridge.ca/airportsurvey. Once the information is collected the city and county will look into making changes to get the public back in the air.
