Courtesy Edmonton Journal
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/ne...4d16bb6a-b44a-4817-b53a-fbd48c73b4bb&p=1
Edmonton playing catchup fast
More parking, easier passenger flow part of $1.1-billion expansion project at booming facility
David Finlayson, The Edmonton Journal
Published: 1:31 am
EDMONTON - Launching a $1.1 billion expansion amid chronic labour shortages and rising construction costs takes a special strategy, Edmonton Airports CEO Reg Milley says.
An alliance with contractors that guarantees them five years' work will help retain workers and push the project along more smoothly, he believes.
The authority put out a request for design proposals last month and is picking a project manager for the expansion that includes a new passenger concourse, adding 13 airplane gates to the current 17, new control tower and offices and more parking. Between 700 and 800 new parkade stalls will open soon.
Passengers wait in line to check-in at the Edmonton International Airport last week. Kiosks that dispense boarding passes and self-check-in help the flow at airports. Meanwhile, Dufferin Contracting has already started preparing to lay 280,000 square metres of concrete for the new apron area.
The expansion, a second straight year of leading the nation in passenger growth, and a re-branding have the airport heading in the right direction, Milley says.
A record 6.1 million passengers passed through last year, still behind Calgary and Vancouver but impressive for an airport that only a few years ago was losing flights and operating in a hopelessly outdated terminal, he says.
He expects above-average growth again this year as airlines add more seats and routes to handle Alberta's northern oilsands-fuelled economic boom.
Traffic increased 16.3 per cent in 2007, which also put the airport among the top 10 in North America and almost three times the global average of 5.7 per cent.
Milley said the 36-per-cent increase in passengers from other cities in Alberta and Saskatchewan using Edmonton as a gateway to other destinations shows the airport is coming of age.
And that's where the May rebranding to a stylized delta wing logo and the slogan EIA: We'll Fly You, comes in.
Edmonton has become more confident, more risk-taking in the last five years, Milley says, and it deserves an airport that matches those virtues.
"People want to get through the airport as seamlessly as possible. They see what's being done at other airports and they want to see us grow and offer the same services.
"All the 3,500 people who work at the airport have to earn the customers' trust -- and their business -- and that's what the new brand is all about."
Self check-in kiosks, park-and-go pay stations, flow-through counters, and the Nexus technology that allows its members to move more quickly through U.S. border clearance are already in place.
A new program allow passengers airport check-in and boarding pass printing at their downtown hotel.
Milley's also working with the federal government to allow passengers to tag their own bags.
That's not an issue since airports started scanning checked baggage, and a pilot project is already underway at Vancouver and Montreal, he says.
"The more you put in the passengers' direct control, the less stressful the process for them, especially if they don't have to worry about lineups at the airport."
A common baggage system so passengers can put their baggage on a belt anywhere in the airport is also on the way. Remote long-term parking for 4,000 vehicles with baggage and check-in facilities on the site is a little further down the road, he says. The passenger growth has helped attract new businesses to the airport property, including a Marriott hotel, car wash and lube centre, a wider variety of food and beverage outlets and a golf course.
The Marriott is back on track after a delay caused by a space conflict with Nav Canada's new control tower which was resolved by making room for the tower at a different spot.
The hotel is set to break ground within a month, Milley says. Non-aeronautical revenue is extremely important for us because it helps us keep our fees down and pay off our debt.
"We have 65 partner businesses, and while there have been some issues with labour, our cleaning contractor is bringing in workers from Pakistan and the food-and-beverage businesses have had success bringing in people from Philippines."
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© The Edmonton Journal 2008
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