Lisa Raitt, federal transport minister, announced $1 million in funding to help purchase a new runway sweeper and an aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle.
The capital assistance program ensures airports have adequate maintenance and emergency-response capability as air transport grows across the country, Raitt said, during the announcement at Nanaimo Airport on Tuesday.
“In general in Canada we have a very safe air transportation system and we’ve seen a great increase, much like the increase we’ve seen with passengers here in Nanaimo in the past number of years,” Raitt said. “We’ve increased by 40 percent the passenger throughputs in Canada between 2002 and 2011, but at the same time the number of aviation accidents have actually decreased by 25 percent and, indeed, in 2011 the total number of accidents in Canada declined to the lowest recorded figure in modern aviation history.”
Nanaimo Airport is experiencing rapid growth in passenger numbers as more people catch regional flights aboard several air carriers. Passenger counts for 2014 are up 35 percent over 2013 figures.
The new sweeper will improve how quickly and efficiently the airport can clear snow and slush from runways and taxiways and, should an accident occur, the upgraded crash truck will improve response times and capability to deal with any size aircraft that can be landed at YCD.
Monday, WestJet, which started operating flights to Edmonton in 2013, announced it will start daily scheduled flights to Calgary.
Airport president and CEO Mike Hooper said the WestJet flights to Calgary will further meet the airport’s goal of serving Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest and allow passengers to connect with flights from Calgary to the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean.
Source: http://www.nanaimobulletin.com
Lisa Raitt, federal transport minister, poses with maintenance vehicles at Nanaimo Airport Tuesday.
Photo Courtesy of CHRIS BUSH/The News Bulletin
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