To allow more airplanes to land in poor weather, Council will spend $26,500 for a newly tested landing system at the Smithers airport.
Manager Rob Blackburn says we’re getting a good deal with Alberta Based Jetpro.
“These guys are the creme of the crop. This is, in my opinion, the right direction to be going,” says Blackburn.
The money had to come out of airport reserves ahead of the budget.
“And what’s happened is the company we’re interested in working with has gone so much faster than expected and so they’re ready to implement the system sooner than expected. We expected it in 2017 sometime; the system is ready now… in which case I need the money to pay them.”
He says the airport misses 1.9% of flights right now – this new landing system will allow aircraft to see the runway better when landing, and “hopefully improve our certainty of flights in inclement weather.”