P.G. Airport Passenger Numbers Climb
Prince George, B.C.- The news for passenger volume at the Prince George Airport is very good.
Last year,402,438 passengers went through YXS, that’s a 3.1% increase over 2010.
This is the first time the passenger volume has hit the 400 thousand mark since the global recession started in the fall of 2008.
Passenger numbers from the last few years:
2008 – 417,484
2009 – 376,030
2010 – 390,340
President and CEO John Gibson attributes the positive numberes to the activity happening in the north "We are starting to see growth in the North in areas such as mining, forestry and transportation, which means more jobs. Growth is expected to continue in 2012 with the opening of the Northern Cancer Agency this fall, which also brings with it more jobs.”
Much of the increase in 2011 came in the last four months of the year. November showed the highest increase in passenger numbers with a 14% increase over November 2010.
Comments
How many were one way tickets out of here?
A small increase in the number of passengers in the year, however if you consider that this amount of an increase would be handled without adding any planes then it doesnt amount to much. In fact we are looking at a 33 passenger a day increase, which if they were return flights, then approx 16 per day in each direction.
Some of the increase would have come from West Jets direct flights to Vegas, however I dont think that turned out to well overall.
It just mean’s the politician’s came to visit more last year.
Maybe more people would fly if these dudes would bring down their prices. A direct flight to Vancouver is $149.00. $66.17 is taxes of one sort or another. Ie; HST 23.05, AIF 18.00 ATSC 7.12 Nav/Ins 18.00
You may as well drive, take a little longer, and enjoy the sights.
The Airport Improvement Fees for some of the Airports in BC are as follows.
Kamloops 10.00
Ft St John 12.00
Kelowna 12.00
Nanaimo 10.00
Victoria 10.00
Vancouver 5.00 within BC
Vancouver 15.00 outside BC.
Prince George 18.00
So once again Pr George takes the lead, and charges more than other places. So a return trip to Vancouver would cost you $23.00 just for the Airport Improvement Fees.
I presume that the higher AIF in Prince George is to pay off some of the debt accrued by the Airport by building the extension to the runway. Whats the return on this investment?? Nothing you say?? Why is that??
Didn’t I read they had to give the former airport manager a half million buck’s to get lost and that money came from the AIF fund.
YeXe$
“Didn’t I read they had to give the former airport manager a half million buck’s to get lost and that money came from the AIF fund.”
Is that a question? It’s your story so you should know! I like to know if that is true or just a FE.
(FE = Fishing Expedition).
Palopu: “Maybe more people would fly if these dudes would bring down their prices. A direct flight to Vancouver is $149.00. $66.17 is taxes of one sort or another. Ie; HST 23.05, AIF 18.00 ATSC 7.12 Nav/Ins 18.00”
Actually, the price to fly is pretty cheap considering it would cost something similar to drive down there. (With meals and everything).
People hate Air Canada, but having two competing airlines keeps the costs down. If one of them ever pulled out of town, you would see some high prices then.
FE = Flouride Extremist
They paid the former Manager somewhere in the area of $400,000.00 in severance. This money would have come out of the Airports operating funds, or from money they borrowed from the Northern Initiative Trust, or the banks.
The AIF fee money which amounts of approx $2million plus per year is restricted to Airport Improvements. (I suppose you could argue that getting rid of the Manager was an improvement, but you would probably lose)
Once the Airport completed the Terminal Expansion, and the addition of 300 spaces for parking (Neither of which is used to any extent) they then ran out of ideas on how to spend the AIF money.
Then they came up with the Runway Expansion, which allows them to spend another $12 Million plus in addition to the Feds and Province spending an equal amount.
So we now have to pay off the Runway Expansion with the AIF money so there is not a snow balls chance in hell that this fee will be reduced anytime in the near future.
The AIF allows airports to collect money to make needed improvements. In the case of Prince George, it could be argued that we are making unnecessary improvements at a huge cost to those who fly.
The terminal expansion money came from the BCRail sale, that had nothing to do with the NITF. Sometime this year or next the repayment of the 12 million to the NIT fund is supposed to begin. That was for the runway expansion.
AIF’s are a reality at every airport, Palopu. I will say that PG’s AIF is amongst the highest anywhere in Canada.
There is a group in Dawson Creek working on a airport expansion fantasy right now.
Middle Finger. You are almost right. The NITF money came from the sale of BC Rail, and the Airport borrowed $11 Million from NITF for their share of the runway expansion cost.
The money for the Terminal Expansion probably came from the $6 Million loan from CIBC, and will have to be paid out of AIF funds.
In any event the Airport owes in excess of $16 Million, which will have to be paid out of the AIF money because they do not generate enough money on the operation of the Airport to pay diddly squat. The first payment which includes interest approx $400,000.00 is due to NITF in 2015. I expect they will ask for an extension
Operating revenue for 2010 was around $90,000.00, however 2010 was a good year because of forest fires etc.
We will have to wait for the 2011 year end report to see how they managed last year.
Its interesting to note that other Airports such as Kamloops, Kelowna, Victoria, Nanaimo, etc operated in a fiscally responsible manner. Cant say the same for PG.
Mirabel West ?
Middlefinger: “FE = Flouride Extremist”
Well, I am pleased that you already connect my name with fluoride, although I am not an extremist!
Thank you for bringing up fluoride, something I really like to comment on whenever I get an opportunity!
The WHO just advised the world dental profession to phase out *silver* fillings because of mounting concerns and evidence about long term adverse effects on health. Dentists are urged to use white fillings instead! This comes after decades of endorsing these mercury/silver amalgam fillings as being totally safe!
Now the experts changed their minds and announced that it is harmful after all!
I predict that the same thing will happen to the intentional addition of industrial sodium fluoride to Prince George tap water. You see, the natural occurring calcium fluoride and the industrial product sodium fluoride are two different chemicals! They have different effects on the internal organs of humans. The industrial fluoride contains traces of arsenic, lead, mercury, etc.
Topping up the natural occurring fluoride with the industrial fluoride (hexafluorosilicic acid) is not something that is helping mother nature and it has potentially very harmful long term side effects and mounting evidence to back this up.
Thank you for giving me an opportunity to express yet again my concerns about AWF and I hope that I will get the attention of more of those who need to become more educated about AWF.
AWF = Artificial Water Fluoridation.
PG: “Thank you for bringing up fluoride, something I really like to comment on whenever I get an opportunity!”
Which is why people pretty much tuned you out a long time ago. Same old story, same old song and dance.
You do not know whether anybody has tuned ME out or YOU out or not.
The same old story and same old dance will stop as soon as the fluoridation folly is discontinued.
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it
is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
– Arthur Schopenhauer
Most of all of the above comments indicate just how much our politicans and elected officials listento the tax payers concerns about reducing taxes and work on the things thare nessesary.
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