Cree West acquires airline, poised for expansion.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay

CreeWest GP Inc. is marking a milestone, acquiring Northern Skies Air Service hangar and charter service located in Sioux Lookout. The $1.5-million acquisition, which was a year in the planning, includes the hangar assets, the Navajo Chieftain aircraft, and shares of the airline. It positions CreeWest as the airline operator, although Northern Skies will operate as a division of CreeWest LP through its general partner, CreeWest GP Inc.

CreeWest secured $245,000 from Nish-nawbe Aski Development Fund and a small portion of funding through RBC Aboriginal Banking, but 75 per cent of the deal was completed with CreeWest's own capital. "What the Sioux Lookout acquisitions will do for us now is it will give us a good foundation to filter operations to the Timmins area and grow from Timmins to our ownership communities of Weenusk, Attawapis-kat, Fort Albany and Kashechewan First Nations, along with building on new clientele and communities," said Ron Basaraba, CreeWest's CEO.

Located at the Sioux Lookout Airport, the 11,250-square-foot hangar can house up to six King Air, PC-12 type aircraft and currently has three tenants, with room for more. There is currently no other hangar space availability at the airport.

Basaraba said the game plan is to use the facility as a distribution centre.

Since the acquisition in October, CreeW-est has been renovating a rarely used paint booth into a Northern Skies passenger lobby with a separate entrance for the airline. Construction is also being done on a three-bedroom accommodation, complete with furnishings and kitchenette, for crews to use when overnighting.

Operation of an airline fulfills the mandate set out by CreeWest to build and grow its member communities. "They want their own airline, and this is small compared to other things," Basaraba said, "but it's a start."

Recognizing that plans for the Ring of Fire have been delayed. Basaraba said CreeWest isn't banking on Ring activity to grow its business, but he believes Sioux Lookout can position itself as a hub for mining activity for the region. "What we've found in the Sioux Lookout area and the remote communities on that side is that there's enough sustainability there today, and we're an open-door policy for any mining opportunities that arise for the future to build on, which would be over and on top of what we're trying to do now," he said.

CreeWest currently holds an air transportation contract with De Beers Canada as transportation associate with...