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$18 million Red Deer airport project expected to lure low-cost air carrier

New terminal and upgraded runway expected to be completed by fall 2022
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Red Deer Regional Airport is expected to land a low-cost passenger carrier following an announcement that $18 million will be spent on a new terminal and runway upgrades.

Premier Jason Kenney, Transport Minister Rajan Sawhney, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and other officials and municipal leaders were at the airport on Monday to announce $7.5 million in provincial funding for the project. The City of Red Deer and Red Deer County are contributing another $7.5 million.

Kenney said Alberta’s aviation industry employs more than 70,000 people and contributes $7.2 billion to the province’s GDP.

The investment will make Red Deer a “natural hub” for low-cost carriers to connect Albertans to destinations across Canada.

“I see a day when families from Calgary and Edmonton and elsewhere in the province might drive down here to Red Deer to benefit from competitive, low-cost passenger service,” said Kenney. “I just think it will be a huge boost.”

Red Deer Regional Airport CEO Graham Ingham said work to build a new terminal, widen the main runway and strengthen taxiways and aprons will begin this spring and be finished in the fall.

“We’ve got a lot of interest from low-cost carriers,” said Ingham. “Red Deer is a great airport for that type of business.

“It’s very efficient. Quick in and out, and low user fees. It fits that business model really well.”

Swoop Airlines, Flair Air and Canada’s newest ultra low-cost carrier, Lynx Air have all expressed interest in Red Deer.

“My job now is to get an agreement in place with a low-cost carrier so we can move ahead with our terminal construction, which we hope to get done as early as this fall and start flights in mid-November,” he said.

“My main message is the days of having to travel back and forth to Edmonton and Calgary are hopefully a thing of the past.”

Expect an announcement of a deal in coming weeks, said Ingham.

Having an air link will also help boost economic diversification in the region and promote investment and tourism.

Besides luring a passenger service provider, the upgrades will benefit existing airport businesses and help attract new aviation-related services to the 200 acres of airport land available for development. At full build-out, well over $2 million in annual lease revenue could be generated.

While passenger service obviously took a big hit during the pandemic, the cargo side of aviation is as strong as it has ever been, he said.

Red Deer Regional Airport’s land is well suited for cargo operations, heavy aircraft maintenance facilities and similar aviation-related businesses. Widening the runway to 45 metres from 30 metres was key to luring those kinds of tenants, he said.

Regional Airport board chair Garett Cupples said with aviation-related businesses looking for ways to avoid escalating costs at major city airports, smaller airports are well-positioned to take advantage.



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