Terrace Airport receives grant for apron expansion

With an increase in passenger levels reported almost monthly these days, Terrace's Northwest Regional Airport is preparing to add more  room on the apron for aircraft to park.

Towards that project the Northern Development Initiative Trust has provided airport officials with a 250,000 grant, which will allow for three commercial aircraft to be serviced at the terminal at the same time.

The expansion will also result in reduced waiting times for passengers in the terminal building and reduce congestion in that area. The apron project is expected to get underway before summer starts.

It's not the only change to the Terrace airport in the planning stages, Airport officials also have proposed renovations to the airport building, with plans in place to eventually expand the terminal building, which would feature a new holding area for passengers and provide for three separate passenger gates.

Those changes are all related to a surge of use at the airport in recent years, between 2012 and 2013 passenger levels for the Terrace airport increased by 38 per cent.  A potion of that increase has come from North Coast residents making the 90 minute drive to Terrace to take advantage of the larger volume of flights out of that location.

As the growing number of industrial projects proposed for the Terrace and Kitimat region continue to develop, Airport officials expect that airport usage will grow with equally impressive numbers in the years to come.

You can review more on Thursday's announcement here.

For background on other Air Transportation items across the Northwest see our archive page.