The Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport (YQM) exceeded its own pandemic recovery expectations in 2022.

At its annual general meeting on Friday, YQM indicated passenger numbers were expected to be 52 percent of pre-pandemic levels but were in fact at 70 percent.

In 2022, 468,841 passengers used the airport compared to 177,040 passengers in 2021.

With an increased demand for travel, YQM was able to increase aircraft and airport revenue by 53 percent compared to 2021.

YQM President and CEO Courtney Burns said a strong summer season and fall helped boost activity for the year.

“We had upwards of 112 percent of available seats compared to the summer of 2019. We had a new airline, Swoop, Porter added a new destination and Air Canada continued to rebuild its frequencies.”

Domestic cargo was up by seven percent last year compared to 2021 but international cargo was down due to pandemic restrictions in some Asian markets.

Overall, this led to a one percent drop in cargo volume compared to 2021, or 20,500 metric tons of shipments.

Burns noted how live lobster shipments dropped last year but that has recently changed.

“Those have really picked back up. There were still restrictions in Asia during parts of 2022 but those are no longer in place and we’re seeing those flights really come back with a vengeance.”

Burns added talks are always underway with new potential buyers in Asia and new airlines have also been recently making some inquiries.