After a slow day, here's some exciting news:
Airport eyes expansion
$80M plan for terminal touted for 2011
BY CASSANDRA KYLE, THE STARPHOENIXMAY 7, 2009
The Saskatoon Airport Authority (SAA) is pushing ahead with an $80-million, decade-long plan to expand the airport's passenger terminal to better serve a growing number of travellers.
Speaking after the SAA's annual meeting on Wednesday, authority CEO Bill Restall said work on a 25,000-square-foot expansion could begin as early as 2011, four to five years earlier than originally planned. More than
1.1 million passengers used the John G. Diefenbaker International Airport in 2008, according to the SAA, which is predicting nearly 1.3 million passengers will pass through the airport in 2014.
"The terminal expansion program we're working on would provide for better public amenities," Restall said. "We're tight for space in the holdrooms (passenger waiting areas), we're tight for retail outlets, food and beverage outlets -- we just don't have the space to facilitate that, so we're going to add the space to help."
The expansion would begin in the "core" or centre of the terminal building and move outward, he explained. Work will also take place on the apron -- the area where aircraft park and taxi to and from the runway. A portion of the work on the apron will begin this year.
"We have to go back into the core of the building to make this happen and then we're able to expand incrementally thereafter," he said.
The authority is also working with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) to add a fourth security line in the passenger terminal, Restall said. At peak times the queue to pass through airport security screening can stretch throughout the terminal, resulting in wait times of up to 24 minutes, the CEO explained. Adding a fourth security line, he said, would reduce the longest wait time to a maximum of 15 minutes.
"We're working with (CATSA) to modify the facility to put a fourth line in, which would be manned and operated during peak periods," said Restall, who expects the fourth security line to be in place by fall.
CATSA, a federal agency, is responsible for operating airport security screening across the country.
In addition to improvements to the airport's building, the SAA is also trying to secure more flights for travellers. The Saskatoon airport is one of a handful in North America projected to increase passenger numbers this year, said Restall, and while other airports are losing flights, the SAA expects to maintain its existing airline service.
Meanwhile, Restall is working on turning a "wish list" flight into reality.
"The next real opportunity we have is to see if we can get some kind of direct program into Europe. That would be the one on top of our wish list right now," he said.
The SAA, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, recorded $16.8 million in revenue in 2008. The authority transferred
$3 million from its general fund to its capital fund last year and ended 2008 with $2.2 million in cash. The airport authority is debt-free.
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