AIRPORT QUESTIONS

A few years ago the city and the Prince George Airport embarked on a major expansion that included creating the third longest airport runway in Canada and the development of a huge industrial park stretching for more than six kilometres along the brand new, paved and lighted Boundary Road on the west side of the airport, linking highway’s 16 and 97.

Much of this, we understood, was predicated on prospective refueling and staging of air freight between Asia and the U.S. East Coast. Most of that traffic had hitherto been handled through Anchorage, Alaska, but Prince George lay even closer to the optimal ‘great circle’ flight routes.

So, a decade or more on, with the runway extension and Boundary Road long completed, why hasn’t that business taken off to the extent that was hoped?

Now Anchorage has temporarily become the world’s busiest airport, with an immense amount of COVID-19 related air freight.

Why has the YXS plan not taken full flight yet, especially in light of this enormous boom in air cargo through the region? Is there an immediate opportunity to change that?

If a key stumbling block relates to tariffs and other regulatory matters, could there be a better opportunity to work with the feds to change that?

Mike Nash Prince George