By Pepper Parr
June 19th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
The passenger airline industry has a unique way of welcoming a new airline to a destination.
In Hamilton, fire trucks, that are a part of every airfield, drive up to both sides of an arriving aircraft and spray an arc of water over the air craft – that’s how they get welcomed to Hamilton International Airport.
Lynx inaugural flight being welcomed to Hamilton.
Sometime today Play, yes that’s the name of the airline, will arrive in Hamilton on their inaugural flight celebration.
Play offers the following destinations: Iceland, Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, London and Dublin via Iceland.
With Play serving Hamilton there will be six airlines using the airport.
The corporate slogan is Come out and Play. The airline serves a number of prime European destinations – easier to get to than for Burlington residents than Pearson.
While Pearson airport is the big player in the Toronto market many of the smaller airlines that want to provide service find that the costs at Pearson are just too high – they choose Hamilton instead.
Many business people and vacation travellers find that Hamilton is an easier destination to get to if they live west of the Toronto core.
The Burlington Chamber of Commerce calls the John C. Munro International Airport “Burlington’s Airport”.
The airport is also a major departure and arrival point for the commercial jet cargo business.
Hamilton International has been described . “As the largest domestic overnight express cargo airport and the third largest cargo freight airport in Canada, Hamilton International is a key economic driver and vital transportation hub for the Hamilton region and across Ontario.”
Hamilton International’s 2021 Economic Impact Study, completed by ICF International Incorporated, found that Hamilton International delivered 4,720 jobs and $1.5b in total economic output, with 2,770 jobs and $1b of that directly attributed to its cargo business.
Cargo operations at the Airport have experienced a 29 percent growth in all areas, including employment, labour income, value added and industry activity, over the past five years:
New warehousing space is being created for what is a growing niche in the supply chain: warehousing that can hold goods coming into the country to be sent to destinations across Canada.
