John Thompson
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (June 20/05) - The world's largest passenger aircraft will be tested at the Iqaluit International Airport this coming winter, officials recently announced.

Cold-weather testing of the new Airbus A380 should help spill extra money into the Nunavut economy, airport John Graham said. The last similar test drew about 25 people to Iqaluit for four weeks, to the benefit of hotels, restaurants and retailers.

"There are tremendous economic spin-offs," he said. "It just goes on and on."

Graham recently spied the new aircraft up close at the Paris Airshow.

"There's no one way to describe it, but in all the French press, they keep saying, 'c'est magnifique.'"

Iqaluit has a long tradition of cold weather testing. During Graham's 10 years as airport manager, Airbus has conducted tests there every winter.

Last winter, three different companies used the facilities to test new aircraft.

The sweltering 35C weather in Paris is a far cry from the frigid Arctic conditions necessary for the tests to carry on, so while Graham enjoyed the heat, he was praying for a cold winter to come.