CALGARY -- What was once a runway at Calgary International Airport is now temporarily decommissioned, packed with unused aircraft.
Coyote calls are up. Skies are clearer. Traffic is always light.
Six weeks into the shutdown, Calgary is a different place.
Laval St. Germain has flown commercially for more than 30 years and says, at times, it’s unsettling.
"You can fly for sometimes 20 minutes and never hear another aircraft," he says.
"On routes where, historically, I've seen multiple aircraft passing above me, below me, conversations going continuously for over an hour."
He says the few pilots still flying will sometimes check in with air traffic controllers just to make sure they’re still there.
Calgary International Airport used to average about 24,500 passengers departing a day. This week, the average is about 500.
The city reports that coyote calls are up slightly to 311 compared to last year, something they say could be random, or a function of more people being around to notice.
Commuter traffic was down by 56 per cent the week of March 30 to April 3. Commercial traffic was down 32 per cent in the same period.