Upgrades to Villeneuve Airport will make it a flight centre of excellence and the most significant general aviation airport in the Capital region.
That was the message delivered by an Edmonton Airports official at an open house last Friday at Sturgeon Valley Golf and Country Club.
“This airport really is a great regional asset and there are a lot of airports around the region,” said Myron Keehn, vice president of commercial development for Edmonton Airports.
“It’s a strategic and most significant airport because you have two runways and a control tower, which is a big thing,” Keehn said.
Expansion of one of the airport’s two runways is now underway. It will be extended from 3,500 to 5,000 feet, allowing for a wide range of airplanes to land. Construction of the runway is scheduled to run from May to November 2013.
Kheen said Villeneuve will also receive a new category 1 instrument landing system to allow planes to land in reduced visibility.
Improvements to the airport infrastructure, such as the creation of a stormwater management system and sanitary services, will begin in 2014.
Airport authorities are also looking to develop additional hangar space and a business park, said Kheen.
In December, Finance Minister Doug Horner confirmed that the province had picked Villeneuve Airport to replace City Centre Airport as the alternate medevac landing site. City Centre is used primarily for medevac, corporate and charter flights.
That airport is expected to close next year, forcing businesses and users there to relocate. Construction costs at Villeneuve Airport are slated at $5 to $6 million.
The open house attracted more than 40 people, both residents of the area and business people looking to buy land.
Judy Lamb attended in lieu of her husband Jeff, who recently bought a hangar at Villeneuve Airport.
Lamb said her husband, who owns an aircraft maintenance business, has traveled from coast to coast for his business, B.M.S. Aircraft Structures, in past years.
Seeing the growth at Villeneuve, he’s now decided to settle down and open a permanent business location, she said.
“With the city centre closing and Villeneuve being the potential hub for wicked improvement and growth, he thought that would be a good, close area to focus on,” she said.
The potential for growth also attracted Eldon Gjesdal to Villeneuve airport.
He recently bought 1.8 acres of land at Villeneuve, putting in 32,000 square feet of airport storage.
He chose Villeneuve for safety reasons and the new instrument landing system.
“It has got two runways and a control tower,” he said.
Guy Boston, executive director for St. Albert Economic Development and member of the Villeneuve Airport Regional Task Force, said it’s important to market the airport to the region and northern Alberta.
St. Albert’s economic development team was already taking steps to bring businesses connected to the oilsands industries to St. Albert and the Capital region, he said.
The airport was an important asset in attracting these companies, he said.
“I am glad they are showing the extension of that runway because that’s a key component and then it’s an opportunity to raise the profile of the Villeneuve airport,” he said.
Keehn said a number of businesses previously housed at City Centre Airport are now buying land at Villeneuve Airport.
The airport will house everything aviation-related, such as aircraft maintenance and parts, flight training and airplane storage hangars, he said.
Construction for another 100-plus lots is expected to finish between 2015 and 2020.
