A recent presentation by Envision Edmonton brought the issue of the Edmonton City Centre Airport to Bonnyville. The morning presentation featured media commercials for radio and television with the group's case to keep the downtown airport open.
The presentation addressed various concerns that wouldn't typically be on the forefront of anyone's mind in northern Alberta: whether one or two airports are better for Edmonton; or whether development of the land where the airport is currently situated would be the nail in the coffin of Edmonton as the "gateway to the north."
Of consideration is that around 4,000 medevac flights land at the downtown airport each year, of which 350 are considered to be time sensitive. While Edmonton International Airport can certainly handle the additional traffic by taking these flights, proponents of the downtown airport say it offers the quickest route to the Royal Alexandra Hospital. It would take around half an hour by ground ambulance to get to the Royal Alexandra from the International Airport. While a helicopter would be available on days without heavy snow or fog to transport patients from the International, it's hard to beat the downtown airport's proximity to a hospital.
Others would like to keep the downtown airport open to accommodate increased regular services from northern communities, including Bonnyville, which would require changing the City's regulation of only allowing passenger planes of 10 people or less to permit 19 passenger capacity planes.
Mayor of Edmonton Stephen Mandel says Envision is promoting personal rather than public interests, something the presenter Andy Feher was eager to dispute. Name-calling aside, the issue of the downtown airport may be, as MD councillor Delano Tolley said at Friday's Shaw House meeting, a matter of being too little too late. Unless the group comes up with 58,000 more signatures by the end of August to add to its petition, the City's decision to close the airport stands.
