Niagara-on-the-Lake airport set to soar

With the face-lift of the Niagara-on-the-Lake airport complete, Ruedi Suter is making promises of a bright new future for the region's runways.

"I cannot get into too many details right now, but I can say commercial traffic is coming to the Niagara airport," Suter, chairman of the Niagara District Airport Commission, said at the official unveiling of the renewed airport Saturday morning. "It will happen."

Suter is confident that flights to take passengers from Niagara to Toronto, or to Buffalo, and back are likely because the renovated facility makes the regional airport much more attractive.

Some $12 million in federal, provincial and municipal funding was spent to build a new airport terminal, install improved runway lights, fencing to secure planes and, critically, a taxi-way to improve the runways.

Suter said in the past, because the airport lacked modern runways or the ability to allow visiting planes to stay more than a few hours, Niagara lost out on the kind of economic opportunities the new facilities present.

"We could see people flying in from places like the Toronto Island Airport, or even from Buffalo, who want the wining and dining experience Niagara offers," Suter said. "They can fly in without losing hours waiting in traffic."

The changes are attractive to pilots who found the limitations of the old set up at the airport frustrating.

"The terminal was OK, but the runway really wasn't adequate," said Mike Tessier, who had his Piper Aztec twin-engine plane on display at the airport Saturday.

Tessier said in the past pilots would have to taxi their planes to the end of the runaway before turning around for take-off. Along with using up fuel and time, the procedure ensured the runaway could not be used for any landings. Any plane wanting to land would have to stay in the sky until the plane on the ground left.

"We don't need to do that with the new taxi-way," he said. "You just take the taxi-way to the end of the runway and then take off."

Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati, speaking while a reportedly $35 million corporate jet landed, said the airport can draw more than tourism dollars to Niagara. He said international economic development groups interested in Niagara need access to a proper airport for their visits.

In the past, the Niagara airport was not ideal for the quick in-and-out visits these teams engage in. Now it is, Diodati said, noting the corporate plane would not have been able to land in Niagara prior to the airport renovations.

Source:  http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca