Airport Expansion Cleared For Take-Off

Wednesday, August 15, 2007 03:35 PM

It’s a go!

The Federal funding for the extension of the Prince George Airport runway has been approved. Airport Manager Stieg Hoeg is thrilled “Certainly this is good news” says Hoeg, “I can say now, the construction of the runway extension will move forward.”

The project now has two thirds of the dollars needed to complete the project. The first portion came from the Northern Trust, the Province has been asked to provide the balance.

Prince George- Peace River M.P. Jay Hill says he has sent an e-mail to the Chair of the Airport Authority Board, Jim Blake, “I told him that I would expect them to have equipment out tomorrow and start moving sod.” Hill says the dollars have been approved by the Treasury Board.

The project has been designed to handle the larger cargo planes needing a refuelling stop before heading to Asia. Prince George is hoping to pick up a small percentage of the flights that are now stopping in Anchorage Alaska as that airport is becoming very busy and does not have as many “good weather” days as Prince George.

Hill says while there are a couple of satutory requirements that have to be met, but "There are no ifs, ands, or buts, this extension has been approved". Hill also gave praise to the Airport Authority for making every effort not to lose precious time "We have a short construction season, and it was very good business sense for the Airport to put out a tender for this project while the funding was still being decided." The awarding of that tender hinges on full funding being available.

Now the focus is on the Provincial Government.

MLA Pat Bell says Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon has been working hard on this request. The Provincial approval was linked to the Federal Consultant’s review of the business case for the extension.

Prince George Airport Authority Board Chair Jim Blake is thrilled . He got the news while on the golf course "I was so excited, I quit with two holes left to go, we are just thrilled!" Blake says its now up to the Province, "They pretty much verbally committed to it, and there may be some little things we can do before they announce that committment, but we can't undertake any real work without their participation." Blake wanted to say thanks to the M.P's "I don't have to say this, but I mean it sincerely, if it hadn't been for the work of Jay Hill and Dick Harris, we would still be waiting, this item wasn't slated to go before the Treasury Board until September 21st, but Hill and Harris worked very hard to move it forward."

That extra month could have meant the complete loss of the 2007 construction season.

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Posted on Wednesday, August 15, 2007 03:35 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: darkken on August 15 2007 4:24 PM

Now we will see if the Liberals know that BC does exist outside of Hope. The 3 MLA's here are probably safe in the next election which ever way Falcon and Campbell decide, but a yes would look very good for their 2009 re-election pamphlets showing that " they did something"

Posted by: Palopu on August 15 2007 8:18 PM

Anchorage Airport handles 1000 Cargo Flights per week. 300 of these are within the state of Alaska. 700 per week are Wide Body Cargo Flights that use Anchorage as a re fueling and distribution base for flights from Asia to the Continental USA and back again.

Because of the distribution warehouses in Anchorage for the big courier companies like Fed Ex, UPS, DHL, it is highly unlikely that they would want stop at Prince George as this would circumvent the distribution network they already have set up.

In any event Prince George hopes to get a small portion of this business. Ie; 4 planes per day, or 28 per week.

It will be interesting to see if they can pull this business away from Anchorage, especially considering that 99.9% of these flights have cargo for American Customers, and a stop in Canada would be more of an inconvenience than any thing else.

Here is a Press Release by the Anchorage Airport dated November 13, 2006.

UPS to open pilot domicile in Anchorage.

UPS has announced plans to open an MD11 pilot domicile in Anchorage. Approx 80 pilots will be based in Anchorage by May 2007. "The Anchorage Airport team has worked closely with the private sector to ensure that the Airport meets the needs for cargo development". said Airport Director Morton V Plumb Jr. "This recent announcement by UPS is great news for the industry and will result in more development and new jobs for Anchorage and the State of Alaska and I predict there will be more good news announcements in the future".

UPS first began service at the Anchorage Airort in 1977 and over the years has evolved from a transit stop to a more robust international gateway with the capabilities to clear inbound foreign cargo through customs and sort inbound freight for delivery to U.S> regional hubs. Today they operate 11 wide-body aprons in a 90,000 sq ft facility. Three of the eleven aprons are sized to accommodate the large Airbus A380 aircraft.

UPS is the 2nd largest cargo carrier serving Anchorage along with other prominent carriers such as Fed Ex, Northwest, China Airlines, Korean Airlines and others. Anchorage will be the fourth domicile for UPS in addition to Miami, Ontario, and Louisville Kentucky.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on August 15 2007 11:16 PM

Excellent news. Biggest thing to happen to PG since the pulp mills came to town.

Posted by: Chadermando on August 15 2007 11:20 PM

Palapo, bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla.....

Posted by: Chadermando on August 15 2007 11:25 PM

I wonder, if Gordon Cambell is well represented by our three MLA, then does that mean our three liberal MLA are also able get some return representation for their ridings?

tick tick tick...

Posted by: jonnypg on August 16 2007 11:34 AM

wait and see Chadermando!!!!

Posted by: Gofaster on August 16 2007 2:43 PM

I am not going to cheer just yet...
check still has to physically arrive and be cashed...
Second the province has to pony up....can't see them comming back from a nice holiday to deal with "such minor issues", as they so seem to think about projects in the north.
But looking somewhat better than it did say a month or two ago...

Posted by: Chester on August 16 2007 6:08 PM

Congratulations to all involved. I look forward in anticipation to the potential all of this is supposed to provide to our community. Chester

Posted by: Palopu on August 16 2007 7:44 PM

Chandermando. Dont give up on this issue, you might be able to find a conspiracy somewhere in it.