By Michael Joel-Hansen

Northern MLA calling for action on airports

Dec 14, 2018 | 4:00 PM

A northern Saskatchewan MLA is making the case for upgrades to airports in Saskatchewan’s north.

Buckley Belanger, who serves as the MLA for Athabasca in the province’s northwest, told paNOW he has been speaking with local leaders who have concerns about the airports in their communities currently.

“In the basin itself, we need to upgrade our airport system to the necessary length and width for safety reasons,” he said.

Besides expanding the runways, Belanger explained other upgrades need to be put in place. These include systems and navigational aids, which could help pilots land their planes more easily. According to Belanger, there is currently a standoff between the federal and provincial governments over who is going to commit the needed funds first.  

“We can’t have that, because every single day people are using these aircraft,” he said.

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The airports in these communities are vital to the communities for a number of reasons, especially given their geographic locations.

“It’s their only stable means of transportation,” said Belanger.

Some airports in the north have vertical air speed indicator systems, which help show pilots they have proper speed and approach when landing, in order to increase safety at those airports.

“All these support mechanisms are being upgraded slowly,” said Belanger.

In the long term the MLA for Athabasca said people in northern communities need more transportation options available to them. Chief among them is a road which can be driven on all year round that would give northern residents access to the rest of the province.

Belanger said considering 28,000 people in the Athabasca Basin fly in and out of the airports every year it is crucial the airports be in good condition given the lack of other options which are available.  

“In northern Saskatchewan, we cannot have a choice of using bad highways or bad airports,” he said

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn