The city has lain out four priorities that they would like the Grande Prairie Airport Commission to keep top of mind as the regional airport continues to grow and expand. Mayor Bill Given says the city has owned the airport since the 1990’s, though since then management has been largely left in the hands of the airport commission.
“To my knowledge over that period of time the city of Grande Prairie has never expressly said what is important to us in the operation of the airport. Essentially we hadn’t given the airport any marching orders or any indication of what council’s priorities are.”
Given says the first directive states that the city would like to see airport land leveraged for related development opportunities. Given says the airport is a unique asset in our region.
“Council’s intention isn’t to be prescriptive in the types of things that we want the airport to develop, we just want to encourage the airport to consider how they can move forward with developments that make sense in their estimation.”
Other directives include seeking out more opportunities for shipping freight by air, and for more direct routes to and from Grande Prairie. The fourth is for the commission to continue practicing accountable and transparent governance. Given has been directed by city council to write a letter to the commission advising them of those priorities.