Province invests $700K in community airports

Upgrades and more money are on the way for Saskatchewan’s community airports, as the province is giving them $700,000 in funding through the Community Airport Partnership (CAP) cost-share grant program.

A news release from the province said that CAP “is designed to help offset the capital costs of rehabilitation and infrastructure improvements with grants being cost-shared up to a maximum amount of $275,000.”

Highways and Infrastructure Minister Lori Carr said in the release: “By partnering with municipalities, we’re ensuring a network of airports is in place to enhance economic development in sectors like tourism, oil and gas, agriculture and mining.”

The communities and their airports getting the grant funding are:

· Birch Hills: $17,500 to replace and repair runway and apron lights;

· Estevan: $86,750 for runway drainage improvements;

· Humboldt: $36,500 for runway repairs and replacement of the Nondirectional Radio Beacon system with a GPS approach;

· Kindersley: $4,000 for runway repairs;

· Kipling: $6,650 to install a new airplane approach system;

· Maple Creek: $27,000 for runway repairs;

· Moosomin: $275,000 for new runway construction;

· Swift Current: $55,000 for asphalt maintenance and runway, taxiway, and apron painting; and,

· Yorkton: $257,760 for runway rehabilitation.

The news release said that since 2007, 36 communities have used more than $7 million from the grant program for their airports.