New aircraft service companies on the horizon?

• Author: Pickard, Apron
• Position: SUDBURY

A new 30,000-square-foot hangar at Sudbury Airport will go a long way in attracting new aircraft service providers to the Nickel City, said the airport's CEO.

Sudbury Airport currently does not have a hangar large enough to house the Q400 aircraft, the largest aircraft servicing Sudbury through both Porter Airlines and Air Canada, said Robert Johnston.

The hangar would also be large enough to accommodate a Ministry of Natural Resources water bomber, and while there are no commitments from the MNR or the two commercial aircraft providers, Johnston said the board felt it would be prudent to build it with that potential in mind.

"We're hoping that by designing this hangar capable of accommodating an aircraft of that size, it will lead to other business opportunities such as aircraft maintenance," he said.

WestJet uses that same Q3400 aircraft, he said.

"We are delighted with the airlines we have now, but we are always looking at ways to expand our services and bring in new aircraft service providers. If WestJet looks at Sudbury and has an interest in coming here, we think having a facility that can house a Q400 is something that will be looked on favourably"

Construction of the hangar is set to begin in May with a completion date of October. "We're trying to move as quickly as possible," said Johnston."We're in the design stage right now, and we're hoping to go to tender in March."

Once it's complete, the new hangar will house Discovery Air, as well as a Northern Ontario School of Medicine environmental research centre and lab.

Discovery Air has a goal of becoming a leading provider of flight training for fixed-wing transport...