Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Halifax’s airport saw an increase in the number of travellers flying to U.S. destinations in 2025, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
That bucks a national trend, with the agency noting Halifax Stanfield International was the only airport among the country’s eight largest to post a year-over-year increase in transborder traffic.
Many Canadians are actively boycotting the U.S. in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and his threats to annex Canada.
Statistics Canada reported that the Halifax airport posted a 6.1 per cent year-over-year increase in passenger traffic to the United States.
“Our strong results from 2025 highlight Halifax Stanfield’s growing role as a Canadian gateway, not only for Atlantic Canadians but also for global travellers,” Joyce Carter, president and CEO of the Halifax International Airport Authority, said in a news release on Tuesday.
Amra Durakovic, head of communications for Flight Centre Travel Group, said she was initially surprised to see the uptick in travellers flying from Halifax to the U.S.
She said Flight Centre recently conducted a survey with YouGov that revealed 62 per cent of Canadians said they were unlikely to fly to the U.S. She said that sentiment was higher in Atlantic Canada, with 64 per cent saying they were unlikely to travel to the U.S.
“Everything I’ve been told by our travel advisers in Halifax is that Canadians aren’t actually travelling widely to different locations across the U.S. unless it’s either business-specific or cruising,” Durakovic said.
“So cruising seems to be a big opportunity right now and what they’re telling me as well is there’s the pre-clearance capabilities at the Halifax international airport so Canadians are feeling, I suppose, that there’s a feeling of safety and ease and predictability when you’re pre-cleared in Canada.”
Durakovic said Florida was a popular travel destination for people taking cruises while California, the Pacific Northwest (often via Toronto), New York, Texas, Las Vegas, Arizona and Atlanta were among the popular business destinations.
The U.S Consulate General Halifax said it congratulates Halifax Stanfield for its “successful performance last year. “
“Our regional ties run incredibly deep and travel remains smooth and efficient for the hundreds of thousands of people who cross our shared border every day,” the consulate told CBC News in an email.
The airport’s news release described Halifax Stanfield as “the most internationally connected airport of its size in North America.”
It said Halifax Stanfield served a total of more than 4.1 million passengers in 2025, representing a four per cent increase over the previous year. That included more than 525,000 international travellers, a jump of 19.3 per cent from about 440,000 in 2024.
Domestic travel continued to be the airport’s largest sector, the release said, with more than 3.27 million passengers contributing to year-over-year growth of 1.5 per cent.
In 2026, the airport will have 57 non-stop, year-round and seasonal services, it said. This includes 15 non-stop European flights and “robust connectivity across North America and the Caribbean Basin.”
MORE TOP STORIES