Air travel gateway to North

The completion of Perimeter Aviation’s $20 million passenger terminal not only triples the size of its former space, but adds crucial modern infrastructure for enhanced travel to the North.

The airline that services 28 communities in northern Manitoba and northwest Ontario officially opened its modern passenger terminal Thursday in Winnipeg that company officials believe may be the largest and most efficient of any regional carrier in the country.

The addition of 21,000 square feet of space means the old terminal area is entirely dedicated to check-in and the new space features about three times the seating capacity, two additional departure gates (for a total of three) and modern signage and accessibility features. (It also includes an elders lounge and Indigenous art on the walls throughout.)

Joey Petrisor, CEO of Perimeter Aviation, said in addition to making the experience more comfortable — especially for people travelling for medical appointments (the goal of at least 50 per cent of Perimeter’s 250,000 annual passengers) — the new terminal will have updated technology for screening all passengers, baggage and cargo.

It also boasts a much larger Chicken Delight restaurant outlet with access both inside and outside security.

Perimeter is in its 65th year of operation. It has been owned by Winnipeg-based Exchange Income Corp. since 2004.

Exchange CEO Mike Pyle said Thursday when it bought the regional airline from founder Bill Wehrle, the company made a promise it would ensure the First Nation communities it services would be partners, not just customers.

While dissatisfaction has been expressed over the years because of the high cost of northern service and sometime spotty reliability, the Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said her presence at the terminal’s official opening was a sign of goodwill.

“There’s always room for improvement when it comes to relationships, when it comes to investment and infrastructure … but I hope we can continue on this path,” Kyra Wilson said.

When it comes to infrastructure investment, Petrisor is particularly interested in being able to deploy the kind of GPS technologies most southern airlines take for granted.

For instance, because of the situation on the ground in many of the airports Perimeter flies into, its Dash 8 turboprops are not able to land if the cloud cover is less than 500 ft. above the ground. By comparison, those same planes can land in Winnipeg if the clouds are as low as 200 ft.

“That amount is critical,” he said. “If we don’t have 500 feet, we have to miss and we come back. It is completely possible with new technology for GPS approaches to get that cloud height down. Our Dash 8’s have the technology but the airports are not able to provide that service.”

Inclement weather that would not be a problem for most southern airlines means some northern Manitoba communities could be without service for extended periods of time, causing extended delays for departing passengers.

To make that change possible would require, among other things, airports upgrade runways to create a much larger obstacle-free area than exists at some of them.

Just about all the regional airports Perimeter flies into are owned by the province through Northern Airports and Marine Operations.

Petrisor, who is on the board of the Air Transport Association of Canada, said there is industry-wide support for such development.

“ATAC has been lobbying federal government to increase funding from the Airports Capital Assistance Program,” he said. “We’re trying to push for more investment in the North. ACAP funding is not enough.”

Since ACAP started in 1995, the government of Canada has invested more than $1.25 billion for 1,239 projects at 201 airports across the country.

The federal government contributed close to half the cost of the new Perimeter terminal through its National Trade Corridors Fund.

EIC provided the rest of the capital for the project. Pyle believes it is one of the only such regional airline passenger terminals in the country that is privately funded and privately owned.

A couple of passengers waiting Thursday for a flight to Garden Hill First Nation said the new terminal is more comfortable, but noted how much fares have increased over the years and how sometimes it takes extra time to get reimbursed for medical travel costs.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca