De Beers relocates corporate flights

Diamond giant to fly out of Calgary, not Edmonton

Trying to find the right formula of operational efficiency and location has been quite important.

De Beers Canada will relocate its Alberta-based employee charter flights from Edmonton to YYC, a move that comes less than a year after the company moved its operational support centre and executive team from Toronto to Calgary.

Approximately 150 employees each week will fly in and out of the Calgary International Airport’s domestic terminal on their way to De Beers’ Gahcho Kué mine in the Northwest Territories, the diamond giant announced Tuesday. CEO Kim Truter said the move from Edmonton makes sense since Calgary offers better connections for the company’s employees and visiting international colleagues.

“Trying to find the right formula of operational efficiency and location has been quite important,” Truter said. “This is very much a long-term move.”

The Calgary Airport Authority welcomed Tuesday’s announcement, which president and CEO Bob Sartor said is part of what has the potential to be a burgeoning charter business at YYC and could not have happened without the opening of the new international terminal last year.

“We were so congested in this airport before building this new terminal that we were going to be faced potentially with the loss of business ... We didn’t have the availability of gates,” Sartor said.

“What the new terminal has given us is the ability to do these kinds of things.”

De Beers Canada cited Calgary’s geographical location, as well as its available labour pool and busy international airport, as factors last July when it announced its decision to move its Canadian headquarters west. About 70 people now work out of the Calgary location, which is in an office building on the grounds of the Calgary International Airport.