City of Trail to buy Trail airport
By City of Trail
Trail City Council is pleased to announce the City of Trail will be proceeding with the purchase of the Trail Regional Airport (YZZ) from the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB).
Council determined the condition precedent, a business plan outlining the operations and economic feasibilities of the City of Trail acquiring YZZ, has been met successfully. The plan, compiled by InterVISTAS Consulting Inc., a leading aviation management consulting company out of Vancouver, indicates the City of Trail will be able to effectively operate YZZ on a breakeven basis without directly impacting the local taxpayers.
The city also had an airport lands and associated infrastructure appraisal completed; as a result, the City will pay the RDKB $1.28 million in two instalments in 2014.
“We are pleased the acquisition is progressing,” said Mayor Dieter Bogs. “The Trail Airport is a critical economic driver that will contribute to the long-range sustainability of our region. Thousands of people travel via Trail for medical, business and personal trips; in order to sustain and hopefully increase this level of travel and number of passengers, it’s imperative we invest to make the necessary facility and operational improvements and build on the airport’s competitive advantages. Council believes the City of Trail can take the lead and facilitate improvements expeditiously as the sole owner and operator of the facility.”
YZZ negotiations between the City and the RDKB commenced in early 2013, and after several months of discussions, the RDKB also feels this is an excellent opportunity for our region. “The Board of Directors are pleased that we are able to conclude the sale of the Trail Airport to the City of Trail in a cooperative and mutually beneficial manner,” said Grace McGregor, Chair of the RDKB.
The next phase in the airport acquisition is to proceed with an articulated transition plan with the assistance of the RDKB over the next six months; the first crucial step of this phase is hiring an airport manager. The RDKB will also be working to remove underground tanks as part of dealing with the environmental assessment that was completed earlier this year. The City expects to make progress by the end of January 2014, and will continue communications though each stage of the acquisition and airport expansion.
The summarized business plan completed by InterVISTAS
