Four Years And Counting: Part Five

By Michelle Cyr-Whiting

Halifax Stanfield International Airport is consistently ranked one of the best in the world in its size (under 5 million)  photo used with permission

Prince George, B.C. - It is considered the benchmark airport by Sport Canada for its handling of major sporting events and, today, that reputation will be put to the test...

Halifax Stanfield International Airport will see 1800 athletes fly in, and 1800 athletes fly out.  But it's not just the athletes - it's their coaches, often many supporters, always a lot of equipment, as well as the airport's regular travellers for the day.  To those in the know about the Canada Games, it's called 'change-over day' - when the athletes from the first week of competition head home, and athletes participating in the second week arrive.

On-hand to observe will be two reps from the Prince George Airport Authority, who are beginning their 'prep' work for the 2015 Winter Games in our city. 

The PGAA's Director of Operations, Kyler Green, and Director of Marketing, Todd Doherty, arrived in Halifax on Wednesday to meet with Sport Canada officials, members of the 2011 Host Society, and, of course, HSIA officials.  Doherty says, "Our goal is to find out what Halifax Airport is doing, what the organizing committee has arranged - in terms of airport facilities - and the processes in place to ensure the smooth movement of athletes and equipment."

Green will be looking at primarily how the airport deals with the event, while Doherty will meet with both airport and airline reps to look at the customer experience. "So we'll be looking at what we call 'front and back of the house', so, between the two of us, we should have the entire customer experience taken care of," says the marketing director for YXS.

"This event is second only to the Olympics and we take that very seriously," says Doherty.  "Our goal is to ensure the Prince George airport does not become a pinchpoint during the games- we always want to make sure that our airport is open and welcoming and that the beginning experience is a good one."  He admits the change-over day will be over and above the airport's busiest time - the holiday season - but points out that YXS does not operate anywhere near terminal capacity, so he's confident the traffic can be handled well with expanded services in place.

Doherty says prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics there was so much concern about Vancouver International Airport becoming a bottle-neck and, in reality, it was so seamless.  He and Green have already met with YVR officials to go over how they handled operations at that time, and the pair have plans to travel to Sherbrooke, Quebec during the 2013 Summer Games to see how the summer event unfolds in a smaller airport.  "We've got an opportunity to learn from the best and we're really taking that opportunity to heart."

The marketing director says one of the early ideas is that a facility may be needed for warehousing the athletes' equipment - skis, hockey gear bag, etc. - and Doherty says rather than spending money on a temporary facility, "We would like to see if there's an opportunity for us to, perhaps, spend some dollars on infrastructure that will improve the existing facilities and let that be one of the legacies that the Winter Games leaves in our region." 

Doherty says it's too early to talk about costs at this point - the plan is to come back home, compare notes and then develop a plan, because "2015 isn't that far away."

Both Doherty and Green expect to be at Halifax International Airport from sun up until sundown today...they plan to 'live' at YXS for several days during our 2015 Games.

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For Part One in this series, click here

For Part Two, click here

For Part Three, click here

For Part Four,click here

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