West Jet's plans for a regional airline may involve the Terrace-Kitimat Airport (aka Northwest Regional Airport), or at least they appear to be on the list according to reports from some Terrace based media outlets.
Airport Manager Carman Hendry recently met with WestJet officials in Calgary, where he made his pitch to lure the airline to the Northwest, making Terrace their Northwest hub as it would be.
According to the CFTK story, some 30 airports were interviewed as part of West Jet's process of setting up its network, which will use a Dash Q-400 as the airplane for transportation to network cities. The northwest hub would feed passengers from our region to Vancouver and on to the larger West Jet network.
When word first came out about the proposed West Jet expansion, Prince Rupert was mentioned as a potential destination spot.
If a blurb from the Brandon Chamber of Commerce is to be relied upon, Prince Rupert airport provided it's own presentation at this most recent review, though if indeed a presentation took place we haven't heard much about it from local sources.
Expanding the options at the Prince Rupert Airport would certainly help to make the airport financially more secure and continue to offer services that local residents are looking for.
The Terrace-Kitimat airport already features more departures and arrivals than it's Prince Rupert competitor, in fact, in pure passenger levels, the Terrace airport seems to be growing faster than the Prince Rupert location.
It may be that passenger level statistic that sways any decision by the Calgary based airline. Should West Jet locate in Terrace, it could very well attract more traffic from Prince Rupert, particularly in the more travel friendly summer driving months.
CFTK-- Terrace Airport May Be Destination for WestJet; Getting New GPS System
Terrace Standard-- WestJet takes a look at Terrace, BC
Update: July 20-- The Prince Rupert Airport Manager recounted his discussions to the Northern View, outlining the talking points from his meeting with West Jet officials, making the case for YPR to the Calgary based airline
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