Coming off a year when soaring passenger traffic set a record at Edmonton International Airport, there is even more optimism as the early numbers start to roll in for 2006.

"Passenger traffic in January was up 11.3 per cent over January 2005, so the trend is continuing" says Reg Milley, president and CEO of Edmonton Airports.

Passenger traffic reached just over the 4.5-million level in 2005, a 10.5-per-cent increase over 2004. Transborder travel in 2005 registered an 11.9-per- cent increase for a total of 594,803 passengers, while domestic flyers accounted for a 10.2-per-cent rise or a total of 3,772,952 passengers. International passengers checked in for a 13.1-per-cent increase or 143,696 passengers.

But while these numbers have excited Milley, he's already looking at adding more flights to improve the International even more.

A new open skies agreement liberalizing air traffic, which takes effect in September, will allow Canadian air carriers greater access to the U.S. Further, the U.S. market will be able to be used as a platform from which to serve a third country. That, says Milley, might prove to be key in getting Edmonton the flights to European destinations that it has been unable to land for many years.

For example, under the new open skies deal, Edmonton could pair with an American partner who would fly from a U.S. destination such as Houston, stop in Edmonton to pick up passengers, and then go onto its final destination of London, England. That way, two cities seeking international flights - neither having sufficient passenger numbers to fill a widebody jet - come together and fill a void they couldn't fill on their own, says Milley.

That option is on top of already-announced new flights such as a non-stop to Los Angeles by Air Canada starting in May and the recently launched Edmonton-San Francisco route via United Airlines.

"The new United Airlines flight to San Francisco is fantastic," says Milley. "In less than three hours you're in San Francisco and United is very pleased with the loads they're getting on the route."

Also in the wings are a new daily non-stop from WestJet to Abbotsford, beginning April 23, and more flights to Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie are expected to start in the future. Increased frequencies are also expected for routes to Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

Milley is confident that Edmonton can get back the Texas route it lost in mid-February when Continental ended its Houston-Edmonton service. "I'm pretty certain we can get Texas back, either Houston or Dallas," he says.

Frankfurt is also on his agenda, with more talks to be held with Lufthansa. "I'm optimistic for Frankfurt with Lufthansa. They don't have enough equipment (now), but they're getting more aircraft in 2007."

The new open skies deal is also expected to reap benefits for cargo shippers.

Cargo volumes, which grew by 9.6 per cent in 2005 compared to 2004, could easily expand. Fedex, for example, under current air rules can only land in one Canadian city when flying in from the U.S.

Under the new agreement, it could land in Calgary and then fly to Edmonton, or land in Edmonton and then hop over to Fort McMurray - as opposed to trucking packages to a second or third city from its initial Canadian stop. "That's a huge difference that's going to benefit us as well," says Milley.

Milley is also looking to bring in an additional dedicated cargo service for Edmonton. "Right now for air cargo, 60 per cent to 70 per cent of all our cargo goes by passenger airplane. We have a dedicated cargo carrier but we'd like to add one more - to Europe or Asia," he says.

"We think there's a market for our oilfield equipment in China or to the North Sea and the Mideast. Right now, a lot of our cargo is being trucked to other airports for uplift because we don't have the dedicated carrier here."

The airport is also set to announce the construction of a new hotel, along with an expansion of the airport parkade.

"We're in the final stages of negotiations with a developer to build a hotel attached to the (north end of the) terminal building. We're hoping to see that get under way this fall," he says.

"We added 720 parking stalls (to the airport) this past summer at Christmas and not only were they filled, there were cars parked in the field. We're doing a feasibility study right now about expanding the parkade."

Milley says the booming economy, and especially northern development, is having a big impact on airport operations.

Meanwhile, Newfoundlanders are going to have a quicker route to the oilsands. Air Canada is introducing non-stop flights between Fort McMurray and Toronto, with the plane continuing on to St. John's. The service will be operating by June 17.

Ben Smith, a vice-president at Air Canada, says the new flights offer a faster and easier way for Atlantic Canadians living and working in Fort McMurray to travel to Newfoundland and Labrador.

- With files from The Canadian Press

(Laura Severs can be reached at laura@businessedge.ca)