The Halifax International Airport Authority is operating under its first-ever deficit after releasing its 2008 operating and financial results Thursday.
The airport authority said it is running a deficit of $447,000 with total operating expenses in 2008 at $54.8 million. It generated $41.2 million in operating revenues and collected $13.2 million in airport improvement fees.
“In the midst of soaring gas and oil prices of 2008 and a turbulent global economy, Halifax International Airport Authority continued to manage and develop Halifax Stanfield International Airport in a prudent and forward-looking manner,” HIAA President and CEO Tom Ruth said in a release.
Overall passenger traffic increased by 3.2 per cent in 2008 to a record-setting 3,578,931 passengers, the release said.
However passengers numbers declined in the last half of year and Ruth said “there is no question the current global economic crisis is affecting our business.”
