Yellowknife (Jan 03/07) - It's been a long time coming, but the paint is finally dry on a Northern Buffalo.

Arctic Sunwest Charters recently took three weeks in late November and early December to paint its "albino" DHC-5 Buffalo aircraft, after purchasing it more than a year and a half ago, said Cheryl Robinson, communications and marketing co-ordinator for the Robinson Group of Companies.

The company has a pair of Buffalos, one purchased in 2003 and the other in 2004, she said.

"We've been so busy, only one of the planes got painted," she said.

The Yellowknife-based company has been using the planes throughout the NWT and Nunavut as well as in southern Canada, she said.

"The early closure of the winter ice road has also been a factor," she said.

Since the Tibbitt to Contwoyto ice road season was short last winter, mining and exploration companies have relied heavily in 2006 on charter companies to fly in supplies.

Exploration companies in particular have been using the Buffalos a lot, said Robinson.

Buffalo aircraft are able to land on short, unprepared landing strips, which makes them valuable to those operating on land without extensive infrastructure in place at their camps, she said.

With a payload capacity of 8,200 kg, and enough space to hold a truck, mine and exploration companies continue to express interest in the Buffalo, she said.

The two DHC-5s really bolstered the company's flight capacity, said Thom Pilgrim, general manager with Arctic Sunwest Charters, adding together the pair moved more than 11 million kilograms of freight over the last year.

Arctic Sunwest has a total fleet of 16 planes.

As mining and exploration continues to build momentum throughout the North, the company plans to grow further as a niche market transportation provider, said Pilgrim.