Growing Places

As Canada’s modern-day boomtown, Fort Murray, Alta., is facing a number of unique challenges related to its astonishing growth rate.  Originally settled in 1870 as a trading post, “Fort Mac” is now the largest population centre in northeastern Alberta’s massive Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB). It is also Canada’s oil sands headquarters, owing to its location atop the world’s largest known reservoir of crude bitumen. The RMWB’s 2010 census put the city’s population at 76,797, and noted a whopping 80 per cent overall population increase in the decade between 2000 and 2010. The area’s work camps were home to an additional 23,000 people in 2010, and that number has most certainly increased in the last two years.  

As Fort Mac continues to break population records, the RMWB is breaking new ground – and lots of it – to accommodate the city’s growth. In addition to building new housing, bridges, water treatment plants, roads, and schools, the RMWB is currently in the midst of what is perhaps its biggest challenge: a $258 million redevelopment of Fort McMurray Airport (CYMM). The massive project is being administered by the recently established, independent Fort McMurray Airport Authority (FMAA), and will result in a new 150,000-square-foot terminal, five times bigger than the current facility, that will open on April 14, 2014. Currently on schedule and on budget, the massive building project is progressing on a greenfield site south of the existing runway. 

“Crews will be closing up the building over the next couple of months,” Scott Clements, president and CEO of the FMAA, told Canadian Skies. “Floors are being poured; the parking lot is completely done and painted. The taxiway is done, and the access road is ready to be paved. In percentage terms, I’d say we’re about 50 per cent along, and that’s where we should be right now.”

The sod was turned for the new terminal back in August of 2011, but Clements said it’s a project that’s been a long time coming. 

Like almost everything else in Fort McMurray, the growth of the airport is directly tied to the oil sands. As technology became available to economically extract the crude bitumen in the late 1960s and 1970s, people began to flock to Fort Mac. It became evident that the trailer being used as an airport terminal would no longer suffice. 

“In 1985, Transport Canada opened up a lovely new terminal that, at the time, handled about 75,000 passengers annually, and was designed for a maximum of 250,000,” said Clements. “It was modern and efficient, but with continued growth of the oil sands production, and royalty agreements struck with oil companies in 1996, the growth in air traffic really started to take off.”

In 1999, when the RMWB assumed ownership and control of CYMM from Transport Canada, the facility was handling just under 100,000 passengers per year. There was still capacity in the old terminal building, but things changed when WestJet arrived in 2002. “By the end of that year we were at 200,000; but by 2004, we had crossed the threshold of the capacity of our terminal,” said Clements.  “To say that the current terminal is overwhelmed would be a terrible understatement. It has been for some years now.”

In fact, Fort McMurray Airport had a record-breaking summer. August 2012 was the busiest month in its history, with 81,530 passengers using the facility. The year-to-date growth has been at a nation-leading 16.5 per cent, and annual passenger numbers are now at an astonishing 840,000.  That number is more than triple the capacity of the existing terminal.

“That kind of growth is just unheard of in the airline industry,” said Clements, who has an impressive 53 years of aviation industry experience. 

Full Speed Ahead

The RMWB established the FMAA in 2009 and brought Clements on board to oversee airport development. 

“The Board met with me right after I was hired, and we resolved to take a fresh look at what was needed [at the airport] over the next 25 years,” recalled Clements. “By mid-year of 2010, we had agreed upon a design, the expansion plan was approved, and we had started the process to fund the plan and communicate it to stakeholders. By the end of 2010, there was an approved project, it was funded, and we began the process of hiring the contractors to build our future.”

Initially, the FMAA considered building incrementally on the north side of the airfield, alongside the existing terminal. However, after three reviews, the airport authority concluded that plan wasn’t practical, nor would it save money. “We chose to go greenfield, which has many advantages as it doesn’t interfere with current operations,” said Clements. “The disadvantage, of course, is you’re over on the other side of the field with no services when you start. An awful lot of the cost of doing this is related to civil works to service the land.”

Clements acknowledged that redeveloping the airport is an expensive undertaking. However, he pointed out that once the land on the south side of the airfield is serviced, it will be open to all manner of new development. He said there will be opportunities for airside and non-airside businesses, including cargo handlers, hangars, fixed base operators (FBOs), and administrative buildings.

“Realizing the potential, the municipality has been just outstanding in terms of supporting its airport authority,” said Clements. “They have a special by-law for municipal taxation that is favourable, and just as important they’ve contributed a grant of $25 million to help us with the civil works preparation of the ground.” 

He added that it was critical to get stakeholders to buy into the redevelopment plan from the beginning. “This is a challenge financially, so everyone who is going to be involved in paying for this had to be brought onside. It’s pretty safe to say we have the very significant majority supporting this brave venture.”

The RMWB has asked the province of Alberta to cover the offsite costs associated with the airport redevelopment (sewer, water, roadway realigments), and has requested that Ottawa chip in $25 million to extend the 7,500-foot runway. 

“We’re kind of a special case,” said Clements. “It’s Fort McMurray; the growth is overwhelming. There have already been $2.5 billion dollars added to the municipality’s ability to handle its massive infrastructure requirements so far.” 

A Terminal for Tomorrow

When Fort Mac’s new airport terminal opens in the spring of 2014, it will boast a total of eight gates (four ground-loaded gates plus four bridge-loaded gates).  The facility was designed with future growth in mind, and when passenger numbers hit 1.5 million annually, there is space to build one or two more bridge-loaded gates.  The ramp will be big enough to accommodate the anticipated growth of the next 20 years, and other planned features include two baggage belts, a flow-through de-icing facility, in and out taxiways, and a small ramp-side cargo operation. The massive parking lot, already finished, has powered parking spaces for 2,250 cars, with room for buses as well. 

“The airport will have all the amenities you see in other parts of Canada,” explained Clements. “There will be 16 retail concessions and food and beverage services, both airside and landside. The terminal will have a practical look and feel, but we are working with the arts community in town to ensure there is a bold sense of place. Work is being done to create a fine visual effect.”

All of these airport amenities will create more employment opportunities in the booming city. A 2011 study prepared by the FMAA estimated that 1,700 jobs were tied to CYMM at that time, totalling a $363 million economic impact on the region. Clements said that as the record-breaking growth continues, even more jobs will be created. For instance, there is already one on-site hotel, but plans are in the works to build a second 160-room (expandable to 330 rooms), four-star hotel connected directly to the new terminal. 

“We’re going from a fairly small, compact organization to an international airport that will have a significant amount of cargo and several new operators,” he added. 

Massive changes are taking place at the Fort McMurray Airport, and it’s Clements’ job to make sure the FMAA is ready to operate the expanded facility. A “Fly Fort Mac” team has been created, including all airport stakeholders – airlines, car rental agencies, hotel operators, taxi and limo companies, and anyone else who has a direct effect on airport customers – with the common goal of moving forward together. “We need to make sure that when we cut that ribbon in 2014 we have the right team in place, so that everyone understands the demands of meeting our vision of being Canada’s premier regional airport,” explained Clements.

Business as Usual

Meanwhile, over on the north side of the airfield at the existing terminal, it’s business as usual. Fort McMurray Airport is currently served by Air Canada and WestJet, which fly to Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver; and by McMurray Aviation, which provides service to Fort Chipewyan, Alta. Private oil company aircraft are in and out of CYMM regularly; as are other operators tied to business in the oil sands. In 2010, the airport recorded a total of 63,808 aircraft movements. 

Clements and his team scored a major coup recently, when they arranged for customs and immigration services at Fort McMurray. The move was necessary to accommodate international flights by Sunwing Airlines, which will be offering winter service to Mexico beginning on Dec. 19. Clements said the airport is also seeking to establish connections to other key destinations, such as Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, and Chicago in the United States, as well as Red Deer, Alta., Yellowknife, NWT, Kelowna, B.C., and Saskatoon, Sask.

To accommodate present activity as well as the international flights beginning this winter, it was necessary to expand the existing terminal by constructing a new departure lounge. Opened in July, the $700,000 lounge features 2,500 square feet of additional passenger seating, airline gate podiums and washrooms. Further changes are being made to accommodate customs facilities. 

“Customs needs to be operational by Dec. 19,” said Clements. “We’ve got a general contractor in to make the required renovations to the current terminal. It’s temporary; it’s a start. When we open our new terminal in April 2014, we’ll have a 24-hour capability to handle international flights.”

When the new terminal doors are opened, the old building will be repurposed, most likely as the home of a large FBO and cargo centre. 

Excitement and Energy

As surely as the walls are going up over on the south side of the airfield, excitement is also building amongst the Fly Fort Mac team members. Clements and his staff – indeed, all airport stakeholders – are making steady progress towards realizing their shared vision of becoming Canada’s premier regional airport.

“I am absolutely delighted to be part of the excitement and energy that is Fort McMurray,” Clements concluded. “It’s a place that people know is very important. It’s one of the best places to work and live in Canada. And, it’s just going to get better with the ambitious and realizable plan of the RMWB and the province.”