The Town hired InterVistas Consulting Inc., through funding received from the Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program (REDIP) in July 2025 to conduct a Passenger Demand and Leakage Study for the Smithers Regional Airport (YYD), which is owned and operated by the Town of Smithers. The Town took ownership of YYD from Transport Canada when the ownership of federally managed airports across Canada were transferred to local municipalities or not-for-profit organizations in April 1999.
The project will provide insights into current travel demand and potential future trends. The intention is to retain and expand the current passenger catchment area to strengthen the value of YYD.
The project has two scopes:
- Air Service Overview: Gain a clear understanding of historical travel patterns and interpret current demand trends to help in strategic decision-making, route development, and overall service enhancements. This analysis will provide data on:
- Passenger traffic, including origin-destination and connecting travel patterns, to identify shifts in demand and emerging opportunities.
- Passenger types and fares will be compared to provide a detailed view of market dynamics.
- Analysis of gaps in service from YYD to highlight potential opportunities for new or expanded routes.
- Catchment Analysis: Having reliable market size information is important to develop air services. The catchment analysis will determine the following from data over a 1-year period:
- Define YYD’s true market catchment area, ie. where YYD passengers live.
- Evaluate outbound leakage to analyze the percentage of residents in the catchment area that use alternative airports.
- Evaluate inbound leakage to determine the inbound traffic that use alternative airports but appear in YYD’s catchment area.
