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Created on Tuesday, 10 May 2011 16:16

May 10, 2011

Increased local activity and a more positive economic outlook are proving evident at the local airport.

Passenger traffic in the first quarter of 2011 has broken the previous first quarter record established in 2009 by 6.9%, showing 90,964 passengers passing through the Grande Prairie Airport Air Terminal Building.

“Our first quarter results leads us into what appears to be another banner year for business” indicates Brian Grant, CEO. “What may not be evident to the traveling public though is that seat capacity is also up over 2010 by 10.7% even though schedules may not appear to have changed significantly. This ensures our rise in passenger numbers is accommodated but also translated into good news for the airlines as they saw load factor increases of over 3% even though they increased the number of seats into the marketplace, concludes Mr. Grant.”

After a number of years of steady expansion and renovations the airport saw a normal year of operations in 2010 but that normalcy is to be short lived as the airport announces plans to expand its major runway by 2000ft in the next two years. “Land acquisition has just been completed and design works will commence this fall for what will be an expanded Runway 12/30 from 6500ft to 8500ft”, advises Mr. Grant. “This expansion will provide increased service reliability for the airlines during inclement weather and also permits us to seek new markets requiring longer flight distances”. Actual construction is currently planned for 2013/2014.