YQQ Update - April 30, 2020
Update: April 30, 2020
It has been a season of firsts for the Comox Valley Airport as YQQ remains open to provide access to critical and essential travel. From suspending our Volunteer Ambassador program at the start of March, to the new plexiglass screens added at document checkpoints last week, airport staff have been swift to ensure social distancing procedures are facilitated, and new regulatory standards implemented.Passengers are doing their part too: restricting non-essential travel, adhering to isolation directives, maintaining social distancing within the terminal, and arriving equipped with non-medical masks for their personal use when social distancing cannot be maintained.
Thanks to our many airport partners providing support to the airlines and passengers. All have been forced into changes such as reducing staffing levels, working remotely, or temporarily closing. Like many frontline services, the work of essential airport staff continues with a host of new procedures to better protect the public.
As always, we are extremely grateful for the ongoing support of 19 Wing in keeping the aerodrome operations running smoothly, and for aiding in tasks such as fabricating specialized aircrew masks on site. Reassuringly, CFB Comox remains at the ready to assist with the pandemic.
Our airline partners are adapting aircraft to serve humanitarian efforts, and are eager to bring many of their staff and flight crews back to work. WestJet will continue to provide service between Comox and the Calgary hub, with four flights per week as of May 5th. We await details for the gradual return of domestic schedules from all three of our carriers as soon as travel restrictions are lifted.
Preparations to ensure that the Comox Valley Airport can accommodate the ramp up in operations with new safety procedures in place is well underway. As a vital component of the region's transportation infrastructure, the Comox Valley Airport will continue to stimulate economic activity as we work with our partners and the community during the upcoming phase of economic recovery.