Terrace-Kitimat Airport to deliver their 20 year plan today

It's been seven months in development and tonight in Terrace, the blue print for the future of the Terrace-Kitimat airport will be put on display.

The New Zealand aviation group Airbiz, which in Canada is based out of Vancouver, has been working with Terrace-Kitimat Airport officials putting together the document that will see the airport through it's next 20 years. A period of time which is expected to see a significant amount of growth and opportunity available for the airport.

Terrace officials have been busy of late outlining the increased levels of traffic that have been attracted to the airport, The year end numbers for the Terrace Airport indicated that they had registered a 27 per cent increase in passenger movements.

A good portion of that significant increase has come from the volume of construction workers arriving through the airport for work at the large number of projects in the Terrace and Kitimat region this year.

More recently, the passenger  numbers have been boosted by the debut of WestJet's Encore service to the region.

The announcement of Encore's service to Terrace, was a vote of confidence from the Western based airline not only for the airport, but for the economy of the Terrace-Kitimat region.

It's with those developments as part of the backdrop to the story, that today's development plan will build on for the future.

The unveiling of the development plan takes place from 4:30 to 8 PM tonight at the Terrace Airport's RTA Meeting room.

The details of the blue print will no doubt be of interest to Prince Rupert airport officials, who have their own thoughts on airport development on the North Coast.

In recent years some of the increased levels for the Terrace airport come by way of Rupertites making the hour and a bit drive down Highway 16 to take advantage of the larger volume of daily flights out of the Terrace-Kitimat airport.

And while the Prince Rupert airport can't match the departures and arrivals board at the moment, they have embarked on a 7 million dollar renovation project for the Digby Island airport, seeking to have in place a solid foundation for future growth in the North Coast.

More background on air transportation in the Northwest can be found from our archive page.


Update: 20 year plan document can be viewed here

Media reviews on the 20 year plan can be found below

CFTK-- Northwest Regional airport releases 20 year expansion plan