North Bay Mayor Al McDonald cuts the ribbon in front of the expanded security area at the airport. PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.
North Bay’s Jack Garland Airport unveiled its 2.2 million dollar renovation which city officials hope will coax another airline to come to North Bay.
“We’ve had some conversations with Porter and Westjet, encouraged them to have flights into North Bay, it will be a business decision on their part but I can tell you there’s a lot of other cities out there are doing same pitch as we are,” North Bay Mayor Al McDonald said during a media scrum after the ribbon cutting.
Airport and City officials gathered to show off the expanded airport which includes more seating, more security, expanded office space which airport manager Jack Santerre hopes will elevate the traffic levels from 66,000 to around 120,000.
That will only come with another airline electing to fly here.
“I believe its always important to have competition within the community, there’s currently two carriers Bearskin Airlines and Air Canada Jazz and we are looking to increase our passenger loads, we’ve done studies we could double our passenger load out of North Bay with additional carriers and competitive pricing,” said Santerre, also noting the Sun charters going to Cuba in the winter months.
The expanded seating area can easily accommodate 154 passengers and allows for two airlines to simultaneously board flights with the addition of a second gate. PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.
Back in January 2015, BayToday reached out to Porter Airlines to find out where North Bay stands.
“Porter continuously explores new routes and destinations to meet the needs of our customers and potential customers,” a spokesperson from Porter stated in an email to BayToday.
“Although we do not currently have any new destination announcements to make, we are not ruling anything out. If the market exists and it is aligned with the business plan, it would be considered in the future.”
Santerre says the expansion created one new job and once another carrier arrives, the airport is expected to hire even more staff.
