GMIAA shares 2020 financial results and releases their annual report at their annual general meeting

GREATER MONCTON, NB – The Board of Directors and management team virtually shared with stakeholders and public participants its annual report and audited financial statements for 2020 today at Greater Moncton International Airport Authority’s annual general meeting. With the COVID-19 global pandemic the Board Chair Nancy Whipp and CEO Bernard LeBlanc made and overview of the year’s challenges but also celebrate many successes and accomplishments.

“The Greater Moncton International Airport Authority Inc. (GMIAA) Board was proud to note how the Greater Moncton International Airport Authority team was resilient during this past year with the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic brought. 2021’s financial results will hinge on vaccine roll out, easing of travel restrictions, and economic recovery.  The current outlook anticipates a return to 2019 passenger levels by 2024 at the earliest.”, stated Nancy Whipp, GMIAA Board Chair.

A major focus during the year was the glycol management system project which was funded in part through the federal government’s National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF). The other large initiative in 2020 was the completion of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority-funded hold baggage screening project.

“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aviation industry has been staggering. We saw a 74% drop in our passenger traffic with only 173,404 passengers compared to 674,406 the year before. We were able to access just over $900k from the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy but, all in for 2020, we saw a $10.1M, or 51% reduction in revenue. We ended the year with an excess of expenditures over revenue (loss) of ($6.5M). Prior to the pandemic, our five (5) year annual average was a surplus of approximately $2M, illustrating the unprecedented shock to our financial performance. To minimize losses, we responded quickly when the pandemic hit in March, identifying, and implementing cost reduction strategies. Our mitigations included the difficult decision to implement workforce reductions, initiate spending freezes, and cancel or defer planned initiatives. Additionally, the Government of Canada announced a rent waiver for March to December as part of its COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. These combined efforts generated a year over year reduction in expenditures of $1.3M. To preserve cash flow, capital spending was cut by $10.4M versus our budget. In the absence of additional funding support, we anticipate fully depleting our cash reserves in 2021, generating a need to take on incremental debt. We are hopeful that travel will re-start again soon, and we remain ready and waiting to welcome our leisure and business travelers back as soon as it is safe to do so.”, said Courtney Burns, Director of Finance and Administration.

You can find the annual report and audited financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2020 here.

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YQM also strives to maximize its contribution to local and regional economic and community development – it currently drives over $665 million of economic activity annually, making it one of the top private-sector economic contributors to New Brunswick’s economy.

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For more information:
Julie Pondant, Corporate Communications Specialist
506-856-5459 or 506-962-2830
jpondant@cyqm.ca