Still Growing Bigger. Still getting better.

March 23, 2012 – Aéroport de Québec’s (AQi) new chair of the Board, Mr. André Fortin, and the outgoing chair, Mr. Guy Vachon, along with Mr. Gaëtan Gagné, President and Chief Executive Officer, presented the 2011 Annual Report today : « Still Growing Bigger. Still Getting Better » at the company’s Annual Public Assembly. The exceptional results are testament to 2011 being a record-breaking year.

In 2011, the Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB) soared to new heights with a 10.4% increase in traffic over 2010 with a total of 1,313,432 passengers. International traffic saw the highest increase at 21.8% whereas trans-border and domestic traffic had increases of 11.5% and 4.9% respectively. These results, paired with those from last year, represent an increase of over 25%. Over a 5-year period, traffic has grown by 68%.

« 2011’s impressive numbers are the result of all the effort put in to developing our infrastructure and services, our constant attention to passengers’ needs and YQB’s tremendous potential. In order to support growth in the long term, we must acquire adequate infrastructure that will attract new carriers and allow us to offer more connections. Thus we will be able to fulfill our vision : joining the ranks of Canada’s busiest airports by 2020”, said Mr. Gagné.

Passenger First: The Key to our Success

For the second year in a row, YQB was named Best Airport in North America (2 million passengers) by Airport Service Quality (ASQ) the benchmarking service of Airports Council International (ACI), based on a survey of over 200 airports worldwide.

« Our success is the fruit of the collective labor of a team of talented, dedicated people who never stop striving to put the passenger first. It’s thanks to them that we are able to reach new heights in passenger satisfaction and make YQB a model for airports worldwide », Mr. Gagné added.

Sound Financial Management

AQi’s financial results were also quite noteworthy. Revenues were up 13.9% ($39.9 million) and finance income was $0.8 million allowing for $8.9 million in net revenues, up 31.3% compared to last year. « These results bear the stamp of sound financial management and the efforts deployed to control costs while diversifying our revenues. AQi is now set to fulfill its mission and invest in the development of our facilities», Mr. Vachon said.

New Board Chair

Elected at Annual Meeting last March 15th, Mr. André Fortin, the new AQi Chair, is thrilled to take on this new challenge. «I’m very proud to begin my new term as Chair of the Board. I will strive for continuity and I’m very enthusiastic about the upcoming projects and challenges. Every Board member, including myself, is happy to share their expertise and allow AQi to keep thriving as well as support management, especially within the framework of our ambitious projects », concluded Mr. Fortin.
Since November 1, 2000, the Québec City Airport has been responsible for the management, operation, maintenance and development of YQB. Approximately a dozen carriers offer multiple connections to various destinations in North America, the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe, over 50 direct flights a day to major cities in Eastern Canada and the United States, such as Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, New York, Detroit, Washington, Chicago and Philadelphia and, in winter, over 40 chartered flights a week to sun destinations as well as Paris and Marseille.

PASSENGER FIRST®