Seems to be a lot talk and back slapping on this issue...
enough of the hype, it has gotten very tiring, very fast...
too much talk.....lets see some action!

Agree 100% ......

Wish someone would do a proper investigative report on this. Takes lots of time and money to do that and not too many have either. This is a small town. The story is of no interest to a big city newspaper.

Spin .... hype .... false hope ...

I do not know how many passengers an Air China flight might have. Assuming around 300, we would have problems handling a flight like that from a passenger logistics point of view. I am not even sure if we have stairs to get up to the doors of a plane larger than a 737. Remember, we do not even have jetways here.

We don't need to use a windsock anymore at our airport. Count yer blessings.

Gus. Apparently the Aircraft used for the non-stop flights from Beijing to Vancouver will be A330-200 Series extended-range aircraft. Seating 274 people.

There is a difference between these Aircraft that can fly direct to Vancouver, and those that stop off at Anchorage. There is also a significan difference between Passenger Jets, and Air Cargo Jets.

I dont think we should lose sight of the fact that the Airport extension, etc; was built with the intention of getting some direct flights to and from Asia (Passenger), and of course some direct Cargo Jets, which could land and load Cargo at Prince George. This was part of the long term planning.

There are some difficulties with this concept, not the least of which is the extreme competition from Anchorage, but also the fact that the newer Cargo and Passenger jets, can fly further, and therefore in the future will require less stops for fuel, not more. Some Airlines now have the ability to fly passenger jets direct from New York to Beijing non-stop.

My guess is that in the future there will a smaller demand for tech stops, etc; not more.

The landing of the 747-200 back in November, and the present landing of the Il-76 while interesting to the locals, does not represent any long term business, for the Prince George Airport. These at best were isolated instances. One for PR, and the other supposedly because of some congestion in Vancouver because of the Olympics.

The use of Prince George as an alternate because of weather conditions again is good PR, however at best if you got 10 planes a year because of bad weather, you would only generate something like $15000.00 for the Airport Authority, and some fuel sales for Shell Oil, however you wouldnt create any jobs. Not likely that you would get 10 planes a year.

Over the long term this project does not look good, however the deed is done, and all we can do now is see what happens.

Lets hope it happens, but unfortunately without sounding like a gloomy gus, I somehow can't see it happening....it doesn't make any logical sense...

gloomy gus??? ... LOL ... just trying to get a handle of the logistics involved.

Getting people off the plane would be the first one ...... then the luggage for the nioght at least, which means all of it.

These planes typically do not have luggage packed individually ... I believe the luggage is typically in open sided containeers put on board with specialized converyor belts to fit the containers.

Then the busses to get people to the hotels ..... just under 300 would mean 4 to 5 buses, or more than one trip per bus .... then spread out over a number of hotels. Most are actually booked over 60 to 70% occupancy during the week primarily for business travellers.

Food ..... having 300 people more than normal in town will push staff .......

Having 300 people more than expected here is probably worse than having 3,000 more people than expected in Richmond due to weather at the airport. That is not always the best either.

Good news and a step in the right direction!

How come Tim is taking all the credit, for doing nothing. The credit belongs to the former airport manager, Stieg Hoeg.

The same Stieg Hoeg that suddenly resigned from the airport authority a couple years ago without giving a reason?

More smoke and mirrors from IPG. How about a few stories of how great things turned out after the fact rather than promoting the future. Let's see an IPG story a year from now on how many Chinese planes landed and the money pumped into the PG economy. Also it would be nice to see the costs involved to see if a profit is being generated.

IPG President is just as bad as any politician.

It seems that China Air has been flying 7 flights per week from Beijing to Vancouver, and that this has been going on for years. The actual story is that this service will be increased by 3 flights a week for a total of 10 by June 2010. Then increase to 14 by the end of 2010.

Are they changing the Alternative to Prince George for all 7 aircraft immeidately, or are they wating until June?? Who knows.

If I read the specifications for this Aircraft (Airbus A330-200) correctly it only needs 7,300 ft of runway for take off at maximum weight, so the length of the runway does not seem to be a factor.

So whats the story?? A few flights per year if Vancouver is fogged in?? Thats about it.

Now this is only China airlines, don't forget there are many more airlines so lets see what happens. I myself see the day when people will be bitching about all the noisy jets.

You could be right seamutt, however Abbotsford Airport is the official designated Alternative Airport for Vancuover, so I dont see any reason why that would change.

Remember that these people are flying from Beijing, etc;, to Vancouver for a reason. Huge Chinese Population, and lots of business interests. These reasons do not exist in Prince George.

In addition there is a huge upgrade in progress for the Abbottsford Airport, something in the area of $20 Million which will allow them to double the number Aircraft that land and take off.