Sarnia needs federal funding to afford the $19.2 million in recommended capital upgrades at the city’s airport over the next 20 years, the consultants behind Sarnia’s draft airport master plan say.
To be eligible for that funding, Sarnia needs an airline offering regular passenger service, HM Aero Aviation’s Adam Martin said during his recent presentation to city council.
Getting Lambton County buy-in and financial support for the city’s efforts to turn around the struggling airport would also be helpful, he said, but the bulk of financial aid should come from the federal Airports Capital Assistance Program.
Council recently voted 8-1 in favor of receiving the draft master plan and for city staff to prepare a report comparing the cost of investment versus divestment, and any legal implications of unloading the expensive and struggling city asset.
count. Nathan Colquhoun was the lone vote against.
Various strategies for turning the airport around were laid out in the nearly 200-page HM Aero report. These proposals include divesting unused tracts of airport land for business park development, more advertising along Highway 402 on airport lands, runway and terminal improvementscreating a fee-for-service agreement with the airport operator, setting up an airport advisory committee and recruiting an airport administrator.
The costs of drafting the master plan, as well as equipment purchases, building a hangar, and paying some of the ongoing subsidies for airport operations – pegged at$400,000 this year – have been funded by a FedDev Ontario grant.
Sarnia’s airport is expected to lose $470,000 in 2023 and, following master plan recommendations, could cut that down to $40,000 in losses by the early 2040s, said HM Aero’s Ben Crooks.
Those losses do not include the pricey capital costs, he said. The bulk – around $13 million – is needed by 2027, while 85 per cent overall is for maintaining, repairing or right-sizing assets, like the runways and taxiways.
The rest would be for growth like terminal improvements and business park development, he said.
Sarnia’s airport has been losing money since Air Canada withdrew passenger service in 2020.
Air carriers, meanwhile, are still facing challenges amid COVID-19, Crooks said, noting Sarnia’s market of 220,000 air trips per year has diminished since the pandemic was declared two years ago.
“Air carriers are have to make hard choices about what their route networks look like post-COVID,” he said.
The no-cost result of the operations model that’s existed with airport operator Scottsdale Aviation, allowing the city to pay just $1 per year, is unlikely to return, he said.
The model that let Scottsdale take care of operations and pocket any gains or losses, with the city taking care of capital costs, is unusual amid smaller airports and has been beneficial, but has also led to an infrastructure deficit at the airport over 25 years, Martin and Crooks said.
Various businesses make use of the airport, and local companies consulted for the master plan said they’re keen to use it still, Crooks said, noting it is an economic driver for the community.
Businesses weren’t asked if they’d be willing to invest in the operation, he said.
The Sarnia airport’s niche is being more affordable for smaller aviation companies that might not be able to afford space at larger bases, he said.
Social benefits of the local airport include search and rescue, organ transplant flights, which will still be needed after Bluewater Health’s helipad project is complete, and law enforcement, he said.
A consultant’s report in 2020 recommended the city divest the airport, but community calls for it to be preserved prompted council to create a working group to search for options to make it viable.
“Really the first key element to be decided is what is the preferred direction regarding the airport,” Crooks said. “One way or another, uncertainty regarding its future will hamper the ability for success.”
The city staff report weighing those options is expected back at a future meeting, economic development director Kelly Provost said. Public input is still being accepted for minor tweaks to the plan via speakupsarnia.ca.