City’s airport master plan is on approach

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This article was published 18/03/2024 (561 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If all goes according to plan, Brandon city council will be one step closer to approving the Brandon Municipal Airport master plan, which was presented in chambers three weeks ago by Greg Brown, airport manager.

Using a 20-year outlook, the plan proposes about $26.8 million worth of capital improvements including expanded runways and aprons, which is the area where aircraft are parked, loaded, unloaded, refueled, maintained, and boarded.

“That’s one of the big questions we get asked all the time, when are we expanding the apron,” said Brown.

There is also potential for on-site commercial development like flight schools and cargo business, he said.

“We’ve got big dreams. We’re very excited to be putting the plan forward. This plan helps give the airport and the community a direction of where we want to go,” said Brown.

The city’s previous master plan for the airport expired in 2004. The new one is the result of work over the “last couple of years,” and involved hiring a consultant, getting feedback from local stakeholders as well as airport users.

Brown was in front of mayor and council Feb. 22 when he outlined the master plan. Council has had the document to review since then, and tonight members are expected to ask Brown additional questions.

“What the plan is laying out is that we have these different steps that we have to hit. And these are the timelines that we’re looking to hit so that when we go to the provincial and federal government, when we have these conversations, we have a plan of what we want to do, when we want to do it, and designs on what it’s going to look like.”

All funding sources are also laid out in the master plan, Brown added, including the municipal government and the airport users themselves.

The City of Brandon has operated the airport since 1999, when Transport Canada handed over ownership. Because the city owns the land, it has more control over how it is developed and used.

In the past decade, Brown said almost $27 million in improvements to equipment and infrastructure have been made at the local airport by all three levels of government – with most of that investment made possible by Westjet’s regular service to Brandon.

Some of those improvements include new terminal and maintenance buildings, LED runway lighting, and resurfacing of the runway and taxiway scheduled for this year. A further $1 million worth of grant applications for future improvements have been submitted.

The airport has seen “significant growth” in movements of aircraft, especially when it comes to flight training and to a lesser extent, Brown said, air ambulance trips and commercial traffic.

But when it comes to accommodating the increase in air traffic, the apron of the runway is considered too small and creates a bottleneck for both arriving and departing planes.

Included in the new master plan is for the apron to be expanded in a two-phase project, along with the development of a new taxiway to the south.

The most expensive item in the 20-year capital plan is the rehabilitation of the main runway scheduled for this summer, at a cost of $10.75 million. But, $10.5 million of that is being paid for through grants from the federal government.

The second-most expensive item is improving water and wastewater service, at an estimated cost of $7.9 million. Funding for that is projected to come from the city’s financial reserves.

When asked if he must convince the three levels of government how important the airport is to the area, Brown said, “I would say based on the funding that we’ve received to 2024 — that all the parties do think the Brandon airport is an important economic driver in the community.”

While members of council consider the master plan with its suggested expansions and improvements to the year 2042, resurfacing of the main runway, its taxiway and apron will begin in about four months, said Brown.

“We want to make sure everyone knows that while we do construction of runway, WestJet scheduled service will not be interrupted in any way.”

The re-surfacing of runway 08-26 is scheduled to begin July 1, 2024.

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