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How Ottawa's airport
upgrade got off the ground Undeterred
by problems in the aviation industry, the new terminal is opening early --
and under budget. Kristin Goff reports.
After manoeuvring through
the most turbulent period in modern airline history, Ottawa's airport
expansion project is coming in for a smooth landing -- six months early and
likely under its $310-million budget. The expansion at the
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport opens to the public Oct. 12. Says the airport
authority's chief executive, Paul Benoit: "Users are going to find this
the most phenomenal, fantastic airport. And that's a promise." Among its new
facilities are: - A three-storey
terminal building, double the size of the old one, with 14 new airplane
gates, more space for passengers, and more restaurants and shops, many of
them locally owned. - A parking garage with
1,700 vehicle spaces in addition to 800 ground level spots outside. Outside
parking at the old terminal will become long-term parking. - A host of other
upgrades, including a new fire station, new de-icing facilities and wider
aprons to ease bottlenecks for arriving and departing airplanes. Ironically, the new
airport facilities are opening in a radically different economic environment
than when the plans were finalized in 2000. At the time, the
40-year-old Ottawa airport, which had its most recent upgrades almost 20
years ago, was under pressure from a booming technology industry, a healthy
leisure market and growth in passenger traffic that had reached double-digit
levels. Four years later,
problems in the technology industry, the shocks of the Sept. 11, 2001
terrorist attacks, a drop in business and leisure travel, and a
life-and-death struggle for some airlines have taken a toll. This year there
will be fewer passengers traveling through the airport than the 3.4 million
in 2000. There are also fewer flights and no direct links between Ottawa and
U.S. technology centres such as San Jose, California, and Raleigh-Durham,
North Carolina. Those flights were
cancelled early in 2001 as companies such as Nortel began cutting their
travel budgets. Air Canada has had to do even more paring of flights, as its
financial troubles deepened. Still, Mr. Benoit says
he expects this year to show an increase of two to three per cent in
passenger traffic from last year's 3.2 million travellers. Smaller carriers
such as Westjet, Canjet and Jetsgo have recently added several dozen flights
to their schedules. That increase in scheduled flights, in turn, caused the
airport authority to make some last-minute adjustments to the new airport
project as recently as August, he said. At one point, during
the worst of the airline industry problems, the airport authority had considered
tearing the old terminal down, he said. But just two months
ago, officials reverted to their original plan, which was to keep several
gates in the old terminal for departures during peak travel times. A link
from the new building provides access to four gates in the old terminal and
more could be used, if needed. For now, flexibility is
the watchword. Based on current projections, the new facility might serve
travellers for a decade or more before a planned second and third phase of
expansion are begun, Mr. Benoit said during an interview. But much of the timing
for that is beyond the airport's control. "An airport,
itself, does not generate new traffic. Nobody flies to Ottawa because there
is a new airport," says Mr. Benoit. But the new facility can accommodate
growth when conditions are right. "Ottawa-Gatineau
will be positioned now, for the next 10 to 20 years, to respond to the needs
of the community. You won't have to go through Montreal or Toronto, because
if there is demand for a flight here, it will be served. The airlines will be
able to come in." Given the wild
fluctuations in the industry during the time the project was underway, it's
all the more remarkable that it has been finished six months earlier than
planned and probably under budget. The project is being
largely financed through a $15 per passenger airport improvement fee, which
is already in place. Mr. Benoit takes pains to point out that the private
airport authority, which has a long term lease to run the federally owned
airport, didn't get "one cent from government." Nearly 85 per cent of
work on the project was done by local companies from Ottawa-Gatineau. Being
able to finish months early saved money as did keeping an eagle eye on costs,
he said. Mr. Benoit thinks the
project will come in under $310 million but even if it doesn't, he says the
airport authority still got more bang for its buck than planned because it
was able to include pre-building of some infrastructure for future expansions
into the current project. There is relatively
little talk of what economic spinoffs the new airport terminal will bring
immediately, at least in specific dollar terms. "I don't know if
that is measurable," says Jeffrey Dale, president of the Ottawa Centre
for Research and Innovation. "But it is certainly a huge, huge benefit
to have that kind of facility here." Part of that, he says,
is in the image the new airport will project to visiting business, government
and leisure travellers, who get their first impression of the region as they
step off their planes. Because of that, the
airport authority has taken steps to make sure everything from the region's
heritage to its high tech industry are show-cased at the terminal, says Mr.
Dale, who also sits on the Airport Authority board. Jacques Burelle,
president of the Ottawa Tourism and Convention Authority, agrees. "I think it is
going to be another post card for us, in terms of (showing) the quality of
life that we have here," Mr. Burelle says. © Copyright 2003 The Ottawa
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