Staff Writer
memara@fortfrances.com
With wildfires spreading through the region, the Fort Frances Airport has been busy selling fuel and setting sales records in June and July.
Tom Batiuk, airport supervisor, said the airport has been very busy this year with the dry conditions and the wildfires that have been burning in the region.
“[The fuel sales] have been a blessing for us financially,” Batiuk said. “[Fires] began very early this year. I think we had our first fire in the region in March. We had helicopters here pretty much from the beginning of April until now with fast attack capabilities. This is the busiest fire season that we’ve ever had in the 11 years that I’ve been at the airport.”
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Latest projections show a $14.5-million pandemic-caused deficit by the end of 2021, due largely to a $7-million deficit projected at the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel and a $3.4-million deficit at Windsor International Airport.
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Because the city is the sole shareholder, it usually enjoys a $1-million annual dividend from each, but is now facing the dilemma of potentially propping them up financially, Dilkens said in a letter sent Tuesday to Dominic LeBlanc, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and president of the Queen’s Privy Council of Canada. Copies were also sent to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland and local MPs.
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The Sault Ste. Marie Airport will receive a little more than $9 million to bring the runway, taxiways and drainage system up to modern day standards, making it one of the largest projects in the airport’s history.
The funding will be added to the airport’s contribution of $4.8 million to begin construction next month with a target completion date of September, said Terry Bos, President and CEO of the Sault Ste. Marie Airport Development Corp.
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It’s hoped that by then, that travel, for business and pleasure, will begin to increase as more Canadians receive their COVID vaccinations.
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Windsor’s airport has been “holding our own” throughout the the COVID-19 pandemic, but continues to seek available federal and provincial funds to support its operations, said CEO Mark Galvin on Tuesday.
“We will apply for everything we are eligible for,” he said. “We have been reviewing them as they come in and been submitting different applications.”
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The local airport hampered for over a year by ongoing travel restrictions did recently receive $290,000 for a front-end loader out of the $490-million Airport Capital Assistance Program (ACAP).