June 2014 BCBusiness 55
F
ive years after the Prince
George Airport Authority
set a goal for itself as a
tech stop for trans-Pacific
cargo flights, the cargo bays
and aprons near its newly
renovated terminal are eerily
quiet.
Airport president and
CeO John Gibson has made
the same pitch to countless
logistics companies and air
cargo carriers: the airport's
connections to trans-Canada
rail lines, the Port of Prince
Rupert and its latitude south
of established tech stops at
Anchorage and Fairbanks
could help carriers in the
ruthlessly competitive supply
chain and logistics business
save a few hundred thousand
dollars a year.
Gibson believes that the
city will one day emerge as
a competitor to its Alaskan
cargo hub neighbours and
eventually a warehousing,
distribution and assembly
mecca banking on increased
trans-Pacific trade. That is, if
the planes start landing.
As revenues from forestry
declined in the early 2000s,
the city and its airport
embarked on a $98-million
renovation to accommodate
the cargo carriers and wide-
body Boeing 747s and 767s
that regularly fly between the
continental u.S. and China.
That renovation included
expanding the runway by
4,000 feet at a cost of $36
million, which made it the
third-longest in Canada, after
Vancouver and Calgary.
Perhaps the most
confidence-inspiring sign is
that the airport is attracting
private dollars and tenants,
says Harry Backlin, a commer-
cial real estate agent involved
with a proposed industrial
park adjacent to the airport.
earlier in 2014, the airport
and Western Star Ventures
completed construction on
a facility for transiting cargo
from plane to truck, capable of
hosting the first generation of
cargo flights. And after years
of setbacks, a refuelling facil-
ity initially planned to be in
use by 2011 will come online
in the next few months.
Whether or not cargo
carriers take to Prince George,
proponents of the adjacent
industrial park still see a
future for the airport support-
ing the city's natural popula-
tion growth. "The city has had
a shortage of light industrial
land going back at least seven
years ago," says Backlin. "The
planning department has a
long-range plan as to where
light industrial park can be to
meet the needs of the com-
munity." –Jacob Parry
■
Canada's third-longest runway doesn't see many of
the mega-jets it was built for. Not yet, at least
s p e c i a l r e p o r t
Northern B.c.
Mile-high Club
all dressed up
The Prince George
Airport has plans
to become a cargo
hub—if only the planes
would come.
MGB ARCHITeCTuRe + DeSIGn InC.
p50-55-PrinceGeorge_june.indd 55 2014-05-06 9:40 AM
