Business leader of the year

Business leader of the year

< Back to Articles | Topics: Member Profile | Contributors: Sara Ericsson | This is a guest post from Halifax Stanfield International Airport
(Member since 1996) | Published: October 1, 2019

This is a guest post from Halifax Stanfield International Airport
(Member since 1996)

The Halifax Stanfield International Airport is taking off.

Atlantic Canada’s largest airport has been recognized as a leading airport in North America and is also being recognized here at home. It is managed, operated and developed by the Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA), whose leader was named the Business Leader of the Year at the 2019 Halifax Business Awards.

HIAA President and CEO Joyce Carter says she was truly honoured to receive the award and says it’s reflective of the work that happens at the airport and the people who contribute to its success — a group within which she includes passengers, stakeholders, government and the surrounding community.

“The support the airport [receives] is palpable … and it inspires us to grow our passenger services, expand our export opportunities, enhance the terminal building and the airport campus and innovate to better serve existing and new passengers,” says Carter.

The numbers

Halifax Stanfield is Atlantic Canada’s principal full-service airport and has grown to include client and passenger destinations across the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean Basin, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

It is also the only Atlantic airport that offers U.S. preclearance and 24-hour and seven days a week Canadian customs services.

The airport contributed $3.75 billion to the provincial economy in 2018 and served a record 4.3 million passengers. Last year was also the fifth consecutive year it broke records in air cargo shipments and totalled nearly 37,000 metric tonnes of freight.

“Halifax Stanfield creates jobs, connects people and transports goods and ideas around the world. We’re the ideal gateway for tourism, trade, investment and immigration,” says Carter.

The airport consistently ranks among the best in the world and was recently recognized as Most International Airport, medium-sized, in North America by the Official Aviation Guide (OAG).

Carter says it is also helping through the arrival of more than one third of Nova Scotia’s tourists in 2018 and facilitated immigration as immigrants and international students touch down on its runways.

“We’re the modern-day Pier 21, serving as the entry point for many newcomers,” says Carter.

Going places

Carter says the airport is aiming to help facilitate the transport of people and goods and grow the region’s economy and has added new non-stop routes to Chicago, Philadelphia, London and Dublin, launched in 2019 alongside added capacity to New York-area airports in Newark and LaGuardia.

She says the airport is also anticipating an increase in demand for Nova Scotia seafood in Asia and Europe and is aiming for the Air Cargo Logistics Park to be completed and opened by early 2021 to facilitate this growing demand.

“I’m continually pushing the airport to grow in support of the city, province and region’s overall economic growth and prosperity,” says Carter.

Also new this year is the CATSA Plus system, which has introduced high-performance lines to improve customer service and passenger flow while also enhancing security effectiveness and Stopover Halifax, which allows travellers to stopover for any time from seven hours to seven days in Halifax via several North American WestJet flights to and from Europe with no additional airfare.

“Stopover Halifax opens the door for visitors to enjoy unique and exciting experiences that will leave them wanting more. Stroll Halifax’s bustling boardwalk, hike scenic trails at the ocean’s edge, dine on fresh lobster, explore beautiful Peggy’s Cove and more,” says Carter. ν

< Back to Articles | Topics: Member Profile

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