A 747 800 the latest model has a fuel capacity of about 240000 L. That is over one hundred and fifty tons. Big numbers.

Does the pilot have to give a credit card before he can pump?

In the short term it makes PG more viable as a tech stop for cargo planes and in addition to no pad fees or waiting it makes the pot sweeter.

In the long term it will help in bringing charter flights directly to PG from over seas; Prince George and surrounding region is heavily promoted in Germany and Austria also certain areas of Japan, China and southeast asia promote the Region indepth. Also this could mean charter flights leaving direct from PG to these regions as well which is a big boon both ways IMO.

I am a full supporter of what the airport is doing and as long as the airport authority stays on track I see nothing but positive benefits for us and businesses in the region.

Does this mean we’re actually going to see more than two big planes here in the future? Why? Don’t mean to be negative and I hope time tells another story, but I just don’t see the attraction or the advantage of larger aircraft tansiting through here.

Agree with you

No one will want to come to the crime/pothole capital of Canada. Unless we promote it as that, maybe some folks will add PG to their bucket list.

Just one minor problem with this scenario the economies around the world are in the toilet. Cargo traffic through Alaska is waaaay down so no need to re-route to Canada.

Well I guess we can only hope. They can’t come if it isn’t there. The trick will be to try and convince them to stop here, maybe Criss Angel would help.

Calgary’s new runway (under consruction)

“The overall structure of the runway is 46 inches deep.That includes a surface course of 18 inches of portland cement, and 27 inches of gravel and granular base, a lean concrete mix that provides a solid surface for the pavement structure and adds to its strength”. Not sure where the other inch went but anyway…..can’t find any info on Prince George’s asphalt runway. Was anyone on here involved in the construction ?

When I first saw the picture of the fuel tanks, my mind conjured up the images of two young men in white uniforms, with a rag in each of their back pockets (ready to wipe the windshield and check the oil) of the alleged planes which will land and have to be refueled. Have these jobs been taken? Or will they be on call? As was stated before, will there have to be payment up front in case they want to take off without paying? Carry on.

Wonder if Mr Green will read the comments on this sight? Should give him pause for thought.
Cheers

Just call this an “epidemic of cynicism” in these parts, folks.

When the $36M runway was built, we heard all the hopes and dreams… it’s hard not be cynical.

The original business plan was to have planes landing and taking off in 2007. Never happened.

Are we getting the full story here??? My understanding was that these tanks were being installed by Sands Bulk, and would be used for diesel and gas distribution in North Central BC. In addition there would be sufficient capacity for storing Jet Fuel, if some airlines wanted to use the space.

So we now have the Runway, the turnaround space, and the storage capacity.

What we need now is someone to specifically state that planes will actually land in Prince George. There are more reasons for them not to land, than there are for them to land.

1. No facilities for pilots in Prince George.

2. More and more planes now fly direct flights from Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, New York, etc; direct to Asia. (Non Stop) therefore no fueling required.

3. There are no cargo facilites in Prince George, nor is there any Cargo. There are huge cargo facilities, and warehousese in Anchorage. Its not likely that these Cargo Carriers will be changing how they do business anytime soon.

4. The idea of a refueling tech stop, was tried a number of years ago by Calgary, and it didnt work. The PG Airport was not interested in finding out why. As a matter of interest the Calgary runway is longer than PG.

5. Dont hold your breath to see any charter flights coming to Prince George from Japan or Germany. There isnt much to see here. In fact the Vancouver Airport recently added 3 more flights per week to Asia. So things are growing in Vancouver. They have a huge population of Chinese, etc; We dont. You need hundreds of people for one charter flight. What will the plane do?, sit in Prince George while the tourists are walking around town.

6. If some planes do stop in Prince George for fueling (highly unlikely) there is no revenue for the Airport for fuel. The Airport will get a landing and take off fee which amounts to approx $1500.00 per take off, so you would need a hell of a lot of planes to break even. It would take a least three planes per day, to make One and 1/2 million dollars gross per year

7. To give you some idea of the scale of a real International Airport Cargo Operation, you have to look at Anchorage Airport. This facility handles 700 Wide Body Cargo jets a week. In addition there are commercial air flights, and also many more flights in and out of Fairbanks. This is your competition.

8. Anchorage and Fairbanks airports jet fuel requirements are supplied by two refineries in the state, and also jet fuel is brought in by ship from Seattle Wash. Prince George on the other hand, has to bring in its jet fuel from Edmonton Alberta, either by truck, or by rail.

If it comes in by rail, then it has to be off loaded, and trucked to the storage tanks. This is a very expensive way to get your fuel, and makes it hard to compete with Anchorage.

In any event, lets see if we get a clear cut concise statement from anyone at the Airport that there is any contract, or memorandum of understanding with any airline, that would see any planes landing here in the next few years.

I wait with bated breath.

Lets see all of you critical of the runway forsaw the economy drop. Ah very clever people. Cargo traffic is picking up quite well. http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1493

I figured the Mayor was gearing up to get herself a private jet; one with a really big fuel tank. :)

So the two tanks together can hold 300,000 litres, which is to say only 1.25 times the capacity of a Boeing 747? If the airport actually did get significant usage as a refueling stop, wouldn’t that be far from adequate?

Palopu@What facilities do pilots need that we don’t have? We’ve got hotels and restaurants. What else do they need?

I agree it’s easy to be cynical about these projects and I believe there were a few mis-steps taken when this was first started. However, I think they’re on the right track with this.

Airlines used to just buy fuel from whoever an airport had supplying them ( esso, shell etc ). The new buzz is to lock up a fuel supplier to a long term deal to keep costs down. A good example is that Delta Airlines just bought their own refinery. Now they can make their own fuel and have it shipped and stored at whatever airport they like to use whenever they need it.

If our airport can provide that service at a time when people in places like Vancouver are protesting against expansion of their fuel facility, that might give YXS a leg up.

Should be interesting to see what happens from here.

Billposer. Once you set up a tech stop, or a Cargo facility you then get into planes coming and going from both directions.

As an example a plane from Bejing would land in Prince George a pilot from Prince George would take the plane on to Europe or South America or where ever it was going. The pilot from Bejing would then take an incoming plane, and fly it back to Bejing.

What people do not understand is that these pilots dont just keep flying forever. They need to have rest. In addition pilots reside in areas like Anchorage, New York, Chicago, Vancouver, because that is where the jobs are.

As an example. The City of Anchorage probably has 400 pilots in the City at any given moment. Some pilots live in say Atlanta Ga. and fly (commercial) to Anchorage to take a flight to Japan.

There is a hell of a lot more to the logistics of running a Cargo, or tech stop, than just supplying fuel.

If you have no cargo in Pr George, then you have no reason to stop here. There is no need to stop in Pr George for fuel, when you can stop in Anchorage, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, or fly direct.

How about building a big honking brand new hotel next to our airport? Vancouver has one. Try that. It might work!

I agree it’s easy to be cynical about these projects and I believe there were a few mis-steps taken when this was first started. However, I think they’re on the right track with this.

Airlines used to just buy fuel from whoever an airport had supplying them ( esso, shell etc ). The new buzz is to lock up a fuel supplier to a long term deal to keep costs down. A good example is that Delta Airlines just bought their own refinery. Now they can make their own fuel and have it shipped and stored at whatever airport they like to use whenever they need it.

If our airport can provide that service at a time when people in places like Vancouver are protesting against expansion of their fuel facility, that might give YXS a leg up.

Should be interesting to see what happens from here.

So if we’re gonna hash some of this out here why not put some facts into this.

According to the Anchorage Economic Development Corp. Their airport contributes 9500 direct jobs 6500 indirect jobs and 1 billion in income to the local economy. over half of that is cargo traffic.

Now if memory serves the idea was for YXS to get 1% of what Anchorage has for traffic.

But lets say that it’s too much to expect that. So if YXS got .5% of that traffic it would mean 47 direct jobs 33 indirect jobs and 5 million in income to the local economy.

I think we’d all be happy with 80 new jobs in town.

billposer notice tanks can be added if needed.

An aircraft does not need to handle cargo to land here though it will eventually be trucked or rail in or out. If say an aircraft cannot fly direct from say LA to China and if fuel if offered at a little cheaper rate here than Anchorage, then they will come. The day will also come when people will be complaining of the noise from the air traffic.

All the faces from the original pipe circle have changed except the chairman of the board….Mr. Jim Blake. The man with the connections to the government treasure chest.

Jaws. Its the economies of scale that make the Anchorage Airport a viable operation. With .5% of the Anchorage traffic you would have a losing operation, if in fact you could operate at all.

It would be like running one train a week from Prince George loaded with lumber. If all you could get is one train per week, there would probably not be a railway here.

Have a nice day.