Norm Poole
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 17/03) - Tli Cho Air has inked a multi-million dollar deal with the Diavik diamond mine for passenger and cargo service.

The new airline is 51 per cent owned by the Tli'cho First Nation and 49 per cent by Air Tindi.

The four-year contract starts April 1 and is estimated to be worth several million dollars.

For the service, Tli Cho will employ 50-passenger Dash 7 Combi aircraft, operated by Air Tindi.

The company will purchase two of the $2.3 million US planes for the service.

"We'll take delivery of the first in two weeks and the second this fall," said Tli Cho president Bob Schnurr.

The Dash 7's, designed for both cargo and passengers, will make eight to 10 trips a week between Yellowknife and Lac de Gras.

The airline will use smaller Twin Otters and Beechcraft 99s for crew changes in the four Tli'cho communities: Rae-Edzo, Wha Ti, Gameti and Wekweti.

Air Tindi, as operating partner, will initially hire 12 to 15 people, primarily in Yellowknife.

That will change as Tli Cho gains operating experience and begins hiring and training its own people.

"We want equity and growth from this business, but we also want expertise," said Dan Marion, CEO of the Tli'cho group of companies. Schnurr described the Diavik contract as "the initial step of many toward getting into the aviation business full-time."

"It is an idea that has been in the works for several years.

This contract is the catalyst that has made the idea a reality."

Tli'cho First Nation Grand Chief Joe Rabesca and Diavik president Philip Du Toit signed the deal in Yellowknife on Friday.

"This is a contract fairly won," said Du Toit. "You earned it."