Grants help upgrade regional airports around BC

Crucial improvements to regional airports around the province have received a boost thanks to grants through BC’s COVID-19 economic recovery plan and B.C. Air Access Program.

More than $9-million in funding has been allocated to enhance local airport infrastructure with initiatives like upgraded taxi lanes, new airside paving and green building projects.

With severe impacts on travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Province partnered with 27 regional airports and the federal government to develop a co-ordinated approach to support the sector. Servicing critical routes for local air travel, the 27 capital projects are part of a strong path to economic recovery.

“We know the pandemic has caused financial stress for many industries and significantly impacted our aviation sector throughout B.C., including our community airports,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. “But we’re also looking to better days ahead, post-pandemic. That’s why we’re taking action to support communities with important infrastructure upgrades so we can boost jobs, tourism and trade that will give us a head start with B.C.’s economic recovery.”

Northern B.C. – $3.6 million

• Atlin Airport – $445,460 to update and retrofit airfield lighting and modernize fuel system
• Kitimat Air Park – $822,913, for runway and taxiway improvements
• Mackenzie Airport – $127,500, for well construction for airport fire suppression system
• McBride (Charlie Leake) Airport – $401,687, for access road culvert replacement
• Northern Rockies Airport (at Fort Nelson) – $163,726, for electric-metered fuel system upgrade for avgas and jet fuel
• Prince George Airport – $299,250, for replacement of 30-plus-year-old back-up generator
• Prince George Airport – $196,500, for mandatory instruction signage (runway hold signs)
• Tumbler Ridge Airport – $326,250, for replacement of airport lighting
• Vanderhoof Airport – $490,083, for apron and taxiways rehabilitation

Kootenays – $618,835

• Fairmont Hot Springs Airport – $19,415, for runway and end identifier lighting
• Nelson (Norman Stibbs) Airport – $159,420, for repair of existing pavement and fencing, and installation of gate
• Trail Regional Airport – $65,000, for automated weather observation system
• West Kootenay Regional Airport – $375,000, for airfield lighting improvements

Thompson Okanagan and Cariboo Chilcotin – $1.2 million

• Anahim Lake Airport – $22,500, for removal and replacement of perimeter fencing
• Lillooet Airport – $132,750, for fuel tank replacement
• Oliver Airport – $56,100, for runway extension
• Princeton Regional Airport – $181,658, for airside lighting
• Quesnel Regional Airport – $336,487, for helipad replacement
• Valemount Airport – $26,719, for an automated weather observation system
• Williams Lake Regional Airport – $393,000, for HVAC replacement and terminal envelope upgrades

South Coast – $3.4 million

• Bella Bella Airport – $315,000, for airport lighting
• Bella Coola Airport – $563,288, for a fuel system upgrade
• Boundary Bay Airport – $580,027, for airport 1 rehabilitatio
• Sechelt Airport – $1,348,108, for resurfacing and extending the runway, apron and taxiway
• Squamish Municipal Airport – $601,615, for runway rehabilitation

Fraser Valley – $438,075

• Abbotsford International Airport – $438,075, for airside paving and electrical (green) initiatives

Vancouver Island – $590,471

• Courtenay Airpark – $159,446, for asphalt repairs on runway, ramp and float plane ramp
• Long Beach Airport (Tofino) – $431,025, fire protection improvement project

B.C. has more than 300 public airports, heliports and water aerodromes. The B.C. Air Access Program, now in its seventh year, is a cost-share program that assists communities with improvements to their airport infrastructure that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to achieve.