More airplanes will be taking off across Alberta soon. The Alberta government will provide $1.1 million in grants to 10 regional airports to support their development. “Now this funding will go towards new business cases and feasibility studies to support improved airport infrastructure and planning,” said Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen at a Thursday press conference. “Now the grants are being provided to the Red Deer Regional Airport (RDRA), Lethbridge Airport, Cold Lake Regional Airport, Whitecourt Airport, the Lloydminster Municipal Airport, Peace River Regional Airport, the High Level Airport, Medicine Hat Regional Airport, Grande Prairie Airport and the Fort McMurray International Airport.” With these grants, Dreeshen said they will enable airports to identify, explore and prioritize improvements and opportunities to increase their economic competitiveness. He added these projects vary in scope and size depending on the needs of the airports. These projects will address airport certification to support scheduled air services, obtaining customs approvals, airport commercial development, commercial air services, hangar development and strategic business case planning. They will support the business cases to attract new airlines, analyzing the highest needed routes, determining baseline capacities of airport infrastructure and identifying capital asset rehabilitation and replacement requirements. At the RDRA, Dreeshen said the $120,000 grant will support a land development strategy that will help it leverage infrastructure and facility improvements underway to better position it as a hub for economic activity. He called regional airports “key assets to their communities and surrounding regions.” This is because they play a vital role in MedEvac and emergency operations, including by providing support for wildfire responses. They support economic development by connecting communities to other markets, helping businesses expand and attracting new ones. This spending is aimed at expanding the growth of regional airports and restoring connections to international airports. Dreeshen concluded by saying the Alberta government looks forward to working more with regional airports to ensure they are economic drivers. Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood said this grant “will help us get to the next level that we need to be.” “We have over 200 acres of airside lands that are waiting to be developed, and customers could be here soon,” said Wood. “And it’s extremely important that we have a plan.” While the Alberta government committed this funding, Wood said it would not have happened without the RDRA’s team, adding it would not be where it is on this project without the City of Red Deer. RDRA Board Chair Iaian Park started off the press conference by saying Dreeshen has been a huge advocate for it and what it has been able to do. “His ministry has supported fully 100%,” said Park. “So we’re very pleased to bring him up today and announce another wonderful thing that’s going to happen at the airport.” Dreeshen followed up by saying he worked with the airports to determine which ones received funding. “Obviously, we had a concept in mind to say OK, if we had this type of prioritizing airports, how can we help you help the development of your regional airport,” he said. “So it was a collaboration of the regional airports.” While 10 airports received the funding, he said others did not because of capacity issues when it was announced and when it went out. The Alberta government did a needs assessment and went through all of the applications to determine the type of study they would be doing, with the grants ballparking around $100,000 each. The Alberta government said in 2023 it was spending $30 million to expand the RDRA as part of Budget 2023. It said the money will go towards making it a new national transportation logistics hub in central Alberta.The funding will build on a $7.5 million grant for it to repair and upgrade its runway.
More airplanes will be taking off across Alberta soon. The Alberta government will provide $1.1 million in grants to 10 regional airports to support their development. “Now this funding will go towards new business cases and feasibility studies to support improved airport infrastructure and planning,” said Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen at a Thursday press conference. “Now the grants are being provided to the Red Deer Regional Airport (RDRA), Lethbridge Airport, Cold Lake Regional Airport, Whitecourt Airport, the Lloydminster Municipal Airport, Peace River Regional Airport, the High Level Airport, Medicine Hat Regional Airport, Grande Prairie Airport and the Fort McMurray International Airport.” With these grants, Dreeshen said they will enable airports to identify, explore and prioritize improvements and opportunities to increase their economic competitiveness. He added these projects vary in scope and size depending on the needs of the airports. These projects will address airport certification to support scheduled air services, obtaining customs approvals, airport commercial development, commercial air services, hangar development and strategic business case planning. They will support the business cases to attract new airlines, analyzing the highest needed routes, determining baseline capacities of airport infrastructure and identifying capital asset rehabilitation and replacement requirements. At the RDRA, Dreeshen said the $120,000 grant will support a land development strategy that will help it leverage infrastructure and facility improvements underway to better position it as a hub for economic activity. He called regional airports “key assets to their communities and surrounding regions.” This is because they play a vital role in MedEvac and emergency operations, including by providing support for wildfire responses. They support economic development by connecting communities to other markets, helping businesses expand and attracting new ones. This spending is aimed at expanding the growth of regional airports and restoring connections to international airports. Dreeshen concluded by saying the Alberta government looks forward to working more with regional airports to ensure they are economic drivers. Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood said this grant “will help us get to the next level that we need to be.” “We have over 200 acres of airside lands that are waiting to be developed, and customers could be here soon,” said Wood. “And it’s extremely important that we have a plan.” While the Alberta government committed this funding, Wood said it would not have happened without the RDRA’s team, adding it would not be where it is on this project without the City of Red Deer. RDRA Board Chair Iaian Park started off the press conference by saying Dreeshen has been a huge advocate for it and what it has been able to do. “His ministry has supported fully 100%,” said Park. “So we’re very pleased to bring him up today and announce another wonderful thing that’s going to happen at the airport.” Dreeshen followed up by saying he worked with the airports to determine which ones received funding. “Obviously, we had a concept in mind to say OK, if we had this type of prioritizing airports, how can we help you help the development of your regional airport,” he said. “So it was a collaboration of the regional airports.” While 10 airports received the funding, he said others did not because of capacity issues when it was announced and when it went out. The Alberta government did a needs assessment and went through all of the applications to determine the type of study they would be doing, with the grants ballparking around $100,000 each. The Alberta government said in 2023 it was spending $30 million to expand the RDRA as part of Budget 2023. It said the money will go towards making it a new national transportation logistics hub in central Alberta.The funding will build on a $7.5 million grant for it to repair and upgrade its runway.
