Penticton airport improvements may not include navigation upgrades

PENTICTON – Two years after an expansion of Penticton Regional Airport’s departure lounge, a reconfiguration of the terminal building appears to be in the works.

But so far, nothing has been said about improvements to the airport’s navigation system to help reduce the number of flight cancellations.

A tender notice for the Penticton Regional Airport reconfiguration project was posted to the Government of Canada’s Buy and Sell website on Oct. 26, 2017, and closed on Feb. 7. The project calls for a renovation of 10,613 square feet of the terminal building at an estimated cost of $5 to $5.4 million.

Those plans come on the heels of a previous contract awarded to Greyback Construction of Penticton to expand the terminal’s holding area in 2016.

The latest phased construction is anticipated to take a year and a half to complete, and will include relocating of the airline ticket counters to a more centralized position in the terminal building, relocation of terminal washrooms to the northwest corner of the building and food services moved closer to the departure gates.

Transport Canada spokesperson Annie Joannette would not say why the reconfiguration is taking place, but said more information on the project would be made available in the coming weeks.

Joannette was unable to say whether the plans include an upgrade to the airport’s navigation system following a winter in which several scheduled flights into Penticton were cancelled.

Penticton Mayor Andrew Jakubeit was pleased to hear the federal government was spending more money on the airport calling it a positive sign for the city and the region.

"If there are other elements that might include guidance improvements that might help landing in poor conditions, we’re not aware of it, but we weren’t made aware of the reconfiguration plans either," Jakubeit says, adding he was personally affected by flight cancellations this winter.

Air Canada Jazz Aviation media spokesperson Debra Williams said in an email most flight cancellations by the airline in Penticton this winter were due to weather, with very few exceptions.

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