Province pledges $1.5M for Deloraine airport

DELORAINE — The province will spend $1.49 million to repave the runway at Deloraine-Winchester airport and upgrade its lighting systems.

The 4,000-foot airstrip will be upgraded to continue the airport’s use for services like crop-dusting planes, border surveillance, medical transport and flight training.

The funding is also an investment into the long-term strength of southwest Manitoba, Municipal and Northern Relations Glen Simard said when making the announcement on Thursday.

“These upgrades help diversify the local economy and create opportunities to keep people living, working and raising families in rural Manitoba,” said Simard, the MLA for Brandon East.

“Infrastructure like this is the backbone of rural economic growth.”

The improvements will reclassify the facility from a rural to a regional airport, reflecting its role as a hub to support economic development, emergency response and connectivity.

There was no timeline announced on Thursday for when the work will start or finish, but Simard said it will be “as soon as possible.”

The Westman landing strip is “horribly rough” in the middle, to the point of being dangerous in some cases, according to Peter Downey, a pilot who flies out of the airport and member of the airport committee. The strip was originally paved in 1989, and some repair work created bumps along the airstrip.

“I wouldn’t even recommend a flight training school to train here until we get it fixed,” Downey told the Sun from the tarmac. “It’s just going to make it safer.”

Municipality of Deloraine-Winchester Reeve Kelly McMechan said many different groups noted the rockiness of the landing strip.

“The pilots are saying it’s not safe, the Lifeflight says its pretty rough on takeoff and landing, the spray planes say it’s pretty rough on takeoff and landing,” he said. “If we can get this smoothed out, we would be good for another many years to come.”

The municipality will match the provincial funding, provided through its Manitoba Growth and Renewal Opportunities for Municipalities program.

The airport has a reputation as a 24-7, 365-day airport for southwest Manitoba, Downey said. It is frequently used for medical transportation, as well for refuelling aircraft for border surveillance.

“You can’t get another airport that’s open as much as we are,” he said. “The next one, west, is Estevan, and east would be Morden, and sometimes that’s not even the case.”

McMechan described the airport as a lifeline for the region.

“When people talk about rural resilience, this is exactly what they mean: the ability to connect, respond and grow,” he said.

“This airstrip is more than a runway. It’s a lifeline for medical transport, a gateway for agricultural and business activity, and a critical piece of infrastructure that supports safety, mobility and economic opportunity for our communities.”

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com