Edmonton International Airport’s passenger traffic dropped by more than 100,000 passengers in 2019, taking a step back from record highs recorded the year before, the airport reported Friday.

The airport saw a total of 8,151,532 passengers in 2019, down 1.2% from the previous years. A 2.2% drop in the number of passengers passing through the terminal was offset by an increase of almost 17% in passengers using charter operations through private terminals.

The airport, like many non-hubs in Canada, was hurt by the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max around the world. It also lost connecting passengers as ultra low-cost carrier Flair changed models from a hub-and-spoke system funnelling passengers through Edmonton, to a point-to-point service bypassing the city.

In all, 6.2 million people passed through Edmonton on domestic flights, down 2.5%, while 971 thousand were on flights to and from the United States (up 0.4%). Another 450 thousand flew to overseas destinations, primarily Mexico and Europe in 2019, down almost four per cent on the year.

Despite the setback, some carriers are planning expansions in the Alberta capital in the coming months.

Edmonton is Swoop’s largest base, and the Westjet subsidiary has announced new service to Kamloops and San Diego this summer. And German charter carrier Condor has announced plans for twice-weekly summer flights to Frankfurt, offsetting the loss of Westjet non-stop service to London, England.