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Passenger volumes up 109% at Edmonton international airport in 2022

The Edmonton International Airport (YEG) is bouncing back from the pandemic.

Numbers released by YEG on Thursday show 5.85 million passengers traveled through the airport in 2022, a 109 per cent increase from 2021.

While officials are encouraged by that number, they say they still have a ways to go.

"We’re forecasting conservatively for the number in 2023 to be 7.2 million passengers and what we had pre-pandemic was 8.2 million," Edmonton Airports CEO Myron Keehn told reporters on Thursday.

The airport says it is also offering more direct flights now than before the pandemic.

Four new destinations were added in 2022: Moncton, N.B., Charlottetown, P.E.I., Nashville, Tenn., and Tucson, Ariz.

The airport now offers more than 50 non-stop destinations.

Keehn says an announcement about a new flight in and out of Edmonton is coming Feb. 13.

Last year was also a record year for cargo at YEG, with 52,000 tonnes of cargo moved, an increase of 7.2 per cent over 2021.

The airport announced a partnership with the Government of Canada to develop a 2,000-acre cargo hub to sustain the growth.

The airport claims it will be one of the greenest logistics parks in North America.

A 47,000-square metre cargo apron expansion was also completed in 2022, which will increase cargo capacity by accommodating more planes on the apron at once for loading and unloading cargo.

Technology and green innovations were also a focus for YEG in 2022, according to a release.

In May, the airport began regularly scheduled drone delivery operations in controlled airspace.

More than 300 commercial drone flights were conducted from the airport to Pat Wilson Memorial Park in Leduc.

YEG says it is Canada's first airport to integrate drone logistics into daily operations.

Preliminary work was also performed on creating the world's largest solar farm at an airport.

Developer Alpin Sun will build a 627-acre solar farm at YEG, which when completed will generate enough energy to power 27,000 homes.

The airport says the energy will be used to help power YEG's operations and contribute toward its goal of being net-zero by 2040.

Development of the solar farm is expected to begin this year. 

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