News - Stephenville International Airport

Bill Hynes is confident government will see the importance of investing in Stephenville International Airport.

The chairman of the Stephenville Airport Citizens Committee expressed that thought to Finance Minister Tom Marshall when he addressed the provincial government’s pre-budget consultations in Stephenville Friday.

“The airport is a way of keeping the economy going here in Stephenville,” he said. “I’m in this because I’m all too familiar with places closing here. I was working at the Labrador Linerboard mill when it closed, then the Abitibi-Consolidated mill when it closed. I don’t want to see the airport close and that’s why I’m so passionate about this.”

Marshall was quick to point out the government can’t even entertain providing anything to the airport until it sees a business plan.

“I’m well aware of that and what I’m asking today is if the business plan determines the airport to be feasible to operate, your government give it all the consideration it deserves,” Hynes said.

Mayor Tom O’Brien, who was in attendance at the meeting, said he was expecting the draft business plan to be completed by Grant Thornton Friday afternoon and the Stephenville town council would need a couple of days to look it before proceeding to the final draft.

Hynes said closing the airport would have some really devastating effects on Stephenville and the southwest coast, including the total elimination of air ambulance flights, of which there were 30 flights in 2009. He said it would mean the elimination of 20 to 30 direct jobs at the airport itself and according to the Erickson report, which was ordered by government and presented in 2004, a $35 million loss to the local economy. From a safety standpoint it would mean a direct loss for the province’s other major airports in that it could no longer be an alternate landing site.

Hynes said with a proper business and marketing plan the airport would again become a major economic generator for the entire west and southwest coast and would help attract other businesses to the region.

He said with the Stephenville airport being a facility already in place and with such potential it makes no sense to let it fade away, as so many are ready to do. Bob Byrnes, presenting on behalf of the Bay St. George Chamber of Commerce, said there are a lot of things that need to be done at the airport, including upgrades.

He encouraged government to have a serious at supporting the airport when the business plan is put forward.

Hynes said his committee considers the airport a multi-purpose facility, which can serve not only a passenger service but a refueling station for cargo, corporate and international flights as well.

“The potential for this facility is unlimited as the number of flights that pass over Stephenville airport is somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 a day,” he said.

There were a number of other presenters at the pre-budget consultations including the towns of St. George’s, Stephenville Crossing and Kippens; Diabetes Advocacy, West Coast Health Care Action Committee, Bay St. George Women’s Centre.