A new master plan
Iqaluit Airport gets ready for expansion

Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

NNSL (Mar 08/99) - Changes are afoot at the Iqaluit Airport and they can only make travelling to the capital more comfortable.

According to John Graham, the manager of the airport that boasts a world-class, 2,580-metre runway, the master plan that looks after needed changes and development has expired.

Developed by Transport Canada in 1992 and designed to last until 1999, the former plan didn't take into consideration the huge boom in population the town has experienced.

"That document did not really take into account that Iqaluit was going to be the capital of Nunavut. Consequently, we've outgrown that," said Graham.

In order to get the ball rolling, the management of the airport hired two firms, LPS Aviation in Ottawa and Northern architects Ferguson Simek Clark, and about a month later, the new master plan is almost complete. Graham said it contains the blueprints for work both inside and outside the terminal.

"We have outgrown the apron in front where all the jet aircraft park. Come April 6 when Canadian (North) comes back in, there's going to be peak times when we'll have six jets on that movement surface at one time. It's already congested."

While the runway itself doesn't need to be adjusted, Graham pointed to the terminal building as the second area in the Iqaluit Airport that needs to be renovated.

The sterile area, the room where people sit after their flight has been called and they've gone through security, was originally built to hold approximately 20 people. Graham said that was far too small a space for the 70,000 travellers who currently pass through the airport on an annual basis.

"It's not uncommon that there might be 60 people. It's absolutely miserable to be crammed in there like a sardine in a tin," said Graham.

He explained that renovations on the sterile area will have to begin as soon as the new government department that oversees Arctic airports -- community government, housing and transportation -- is up and running with its budget. Space within the existing terminal building will be utilized for the expansion, which, by virtue of Iqaluit officially becoming the capital of the territory, has become necessary for security purposes.

An increase in the space occupied by the customs section of the terminal has also been planned as a result of the increase in international travel.

Expected to be complete by the end of March, the master plan will have to be approved by CGHT before any of the work can begin. Once in place, the document is expected to last for at least 10 to 15 years.