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Airports such as the one in Qikiqtarjuaq could benefit from improvements to its runway which would allow more modern aircraft to land in the community. - NNSL file photo |
Nunavut airports lagging behind Majority of runways can't accommodate modern aircraft
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, June 10, 2013
NUNAVUT
Some Nunavut communities would gladly welcome the opportunity to accommodate larger, more modern aircraft at their airports, according to senior administrative officers from Sanikiluaq and Pond Inlet.
The comments were made in reference to the Air Line Pilots Association conference held in Ottawa on May 29, in which some representatives suggested services to Arctic communities have to be downgraded because of their limited airport capabilities.
The main issues cited were shorter, unpaved runways and inadequate approach lighting, which prevent modern airliners from landing.
"It means if you can't optimize what you're flying in there, you're compromising," said Stephen Nourse, executive director of the Northern Air Transport Association.
"At one end or the other someone usually ends up with the cost. It means you can't use the most cost-effective aircraft at times." Nourse was referring to aircraft such as Boeing 737s, the most modern aircraft capable of landing on gravel. The only communities with paved runways in Nunavut are Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit.
Colin Saunders, acting senior administrative officer in Pond Inlet, said having access to a jet strip could benefit the hamlet but also surrounding North Baffin communities such as Grise Fiord, Clyde River and Arctic Bay.
"We could turn it into a high-Arctic hub base for airlines," he said. "Since the closure of the Nanisivik Mine (in 2002), there hasn't been another high-Arctic station where jets can fly to. The community has been looking to get a jet strip for quite some time now."
Saunders said a feasibility study was carried out in 2003-04 to determine if a jet strip could be built in the community.
He said the hamlet is also waiting to see if the Baffinland Iron Mine project will get up and running, which would undoubtedly increase aircraft traffic in the high Arctic.
"We know the federal government has a copy of the study," Saunders said. "If the Baffinland project gets up and running it could give us the opportunity to try and argue for a jet strip because of the close proximity to the mine site. Hopefully we could do that and be able to service the high-Arctic communities."
Saunders believes the delay in response from the federal government could be due, in part, to its interest in a return on investment. Building a new jet strip wouldn't come cheap.
"But it would have a positive economic impact on the surrounding communities," Saunders added.
Pond Inlet's current airport runway is more or less located in the centre of town, so more studies and research are needed to decide where a new jet strip would be located.
In the remote hamlet of Sanikiluaq, upgrades to the community's airport would allow more modern aircraft to bring in supplies on a more regular basis.
"We wouldn't have to wait for the barge to bring some of the material that we need on a regular basis," said Andre Larabie, senior administrative officer.
"I believe the cost of cargo would also be less expensive. If there were 15 seats (available) the cost to get in and out of Sanikiluaq would be more reasonable than it is now."
Some communities with gravel runways don't necessarily need upgrades, as they have been receiving all the services and supplies they need.
In Clyde River the issue has never been raised, according to senior administrative officer John Ivey.
"All our supplies come in by boat so from the hamlet's point of view, there's never been an issue," he said. "Some of the pilots are picky about the conditions, though. There were puddles on the runway a few weeks ago because it gets a bit soft in the spring, and, of course, we'd prefer to have pavement so that aircraft wouldn't have to worry about getting rocks in their turbines."
Methuselah Kunuk, the assistant deputy minister of transportation, said budgetary limitations are the main reason why upgrades aren't being made.
"There have been studies for the Kimmirut and Pangnirtung airports," he said. "But there's a lack of capital dollars. We're behind because these runways need to be resurfaced."
Nourse said the Government of Nunavut can't be blamed for the airport shortcomings, as they have fared well with the resources they possess.
"It's not that the communities aren't getting service," he said. "The Nunavut government is doing well with limited finances and what they inherited when airports were transferred to them from the federal government. But infrastructure in the North is lagging and it is creating higher costs and sub-optimal service.
"What we'd really like to see are better approach aids," he added. "That would help us significantly."
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