Canadian Airports Council seeks funding for small NAS airports

Canada’s industry association that represents the interests of airports is calling for changes to a federal policy it says is preventing six small airports from accessing infrastructure funding at a critical time.

The Canadian Airports Council (CAC) is seeking funding for small National Airports System (NAS) airports that are ineligible for various infrastructure programs.

“It’s pretty pressing,” said Daniel-Robert Gooch, president of the CAC. “We have seen a backlog of projects grow. So the numbers we’re talking about now are higher than they were five, six years ago, when this campaign was started.”

NAS airports operate on a not-for-profit basis but lease their land from the federal government, with assets reverting to the government after 60 years, the CAC said in a news release.

Six small NAS airports in Charlottetown, P.E.I.; Fredericton, N.B.; Gander, N.L.; London, Ont.; Prince George, B.C.; and Saint John, N.B., are ineligible for the Airports Capital Assistance Program (ACAP) and other infrastructure funding programs, because they are located on federal land, despite meeting the program’s eligibility criteria, said the CAC.

NAS airport authorities are expected to be financially self-sufficient and there are no dedicated or annual sources of funding for these airports, Transport Canada said in a statement.

The federal government also does not provide them with any operational funding, but Transport Canada said small NAS airports have received federal funding for infrastructure projects through a variety of sources.

A list provided to Skies cited funding allocations to five small NAS airports between 2002 and 2011. They range from $1.2 million for a terminal expansion in Charlottetown to $11 million for a runway extension in Prince George.

“They have made programs in the past where you could apply for funding,” said Doug Newson, CEO of the Charlottetown Airport and chair of the CAC’s small airports caucus.

“And some small NAS airports, including Charlottetown, did receive funding. But today there currently exists no program.

“So we’ve been basically pushing the federal government to either change current criteria for existing programs so that we can apply, or create a new program for small NAS airports.”

The airports have come to a critical point where infrastructure support is not only a matter of fairness but rather a necessity, said Newson in a statement.

“Whether it be critical runway repairs or adequate space for passengers to line up for security, the infrastructure deficit is growing and there are significant long-term sustainability challenges,” he said.

An example is Fredericton International Airport, which is 75 per cent over capacity in its terminal building and seeking both federal and provincial contributions toward a $30 million expansion.

“It’s not a project building for the future,” said Johanne Gallant, the airport’s president and CEO. “It’s really to accommodate the existing business and for the future.”

Fredericton’s terminal building was designed for 200,000 passengers a year and is already at 350,000, said Gallant.

That’s thanks in part to the arrival of new services from WestJet and Air Canada, as well as charters, traffic at the Moncton Flight College and visitors who fly in for training at 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown.

“It’s definitely a good news story,” said Gallant. “We just need to really move forward to the next step with this terminal expansion.

“And we’ve done the design; the design is complete. We’re shovel-ready. We’re ready to go. We’re just waiting on a partnership agreement.”

The expansion would include adding a second security line since the existing line has major congestion at peak hours, said Gallant.

“Sometimes the lineup goes as far as outside,” she said. The expansion would also include a larger hold room, more space for ticketing and revamped washrooms.

“We just want to be able to fit in some kind of program and to be evaluated per business case,” said Gallant.

Charlottetown is in the first year of a three-year runway improvement program that will see a 2,000-foot extension of its shorter, crosswind runway.

The plan is to use this runway to continue operating in the third year of the project, when the airport’s main runway undergoes reconstruction.

“It’s simply coming to the end of its life cycle,” said Newson, referring to the main runway. “These runways only have a certain lifespan, and we’re coming up on over 20 years where it just needs some major repair work and some drainage issues to fix.”

The runway work is expected to cost around $20 million, and the airport is contemplating the need to raise fees, finance the work through debt, or a combination of those options, if it does not receive federal funding.

“For us in Charlottetown on the runway side, it’s a no-brainer,” said Newson. “We simply have to do it, so we’re going to do it and we’re going to make it work.

“For the other airports that may have terminal projects, the passenger experience will suffer for sure because they just can’t accommodate the numbers that they’re seeing through there as well.

“And it may result in losing air service or maybe not growing as quickly as some of these communities could, that rely on air service.”

While the CAC cites a positive response from the federal government on the issue, no solution is yet in place. The organization hopes that will change sometime this fall, or during the next federal budget cycle at the very latest.

“We’ve had several positive discussions with people in Ottawa, and they certainly realize that there is an issue and a challenge here,” said Newson.

“It’s just a matter of finding a solution and moving forward. So the next six months, I think, will be critical for these small NAS airports so that we can hopefully find a solution to this.”