Air Canada has suspended all flights from Fort McMurray to Edmonton until April 30 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The CEO and president of the Fort McMurray International Airport, RJ Steenstra, said they are in touch with all airlines in terms with servicing our airport.
“WestJet continues to service Edmonton however you could appreciate this is a very fluid situation, we are in touch with the airlines as much as we can be in terms of determining and learning what their measures are as it relates to servicing Fort McMurray.”
Any passengers affected by the suspension will have to contact Air Canada directly.
He said he knows people are wondering what is going to happen going forward and added that they are following guidelines around non-essential travel.
“It is very difficult for us to predict additional changes to our flight schedule at YMM but we do know that our airlines are doing everything they can to mitigate the impact they have to our connectivity into and out of this region, but it is a very fluid and dynamic situation. One we are monitoring and working very closely with them.”
In terms of other flight schedules, Steenstra encouraged passengers to contact their airlines directly.
“We do have information available on our website in terms on flight schedules, arrivals and departures. We are continuing to see passengers coming in to and out of the airport for the time being we do not expect that will go to zero, but it is obviously changing and a dynamic situation.
Before passengers head to the airport they should check their flight and ensure they are going on schedule and have not been cancelled.
Steenstra kept upbeat and said service will be back.
“We will rebound from this, right now we are focusing on what we could in the immediate future.”
He highlighted that the airport is taking all the precautionary measures in response to COVID-19.
“For us there is nothing more important than the health and well-being of our customers and our terminal personal and our employees. We our actively monitoring COVID-19 and working with the appropriate agencies to determine how we are going to act or react.”
In the terminals they have activated their remote work policy for employees, and to ensure passenger feel safe they have increased frequency of cleaning.
“We have been disinfecting flat area surfaces, hand rails, airline counter tops, washrooms, self serve kiosks and of course promoting effective hand washing and hygiene.”
A complete list of actions the airport has taken can be found on its website.
