Airport lands control tower
Published Thursday July 9th, 2009
Step up | Lots of traffic at Fredericton International Airport
NAV Canada is adding air traffic control services at the Fredericton International Airport.
Canada's air navigation services provider announced plans to upgrade from a flight service station Wednesday.
The decision comes after months of consultation with users and study of the traffic growth at the airport.
It's the busiest flight service station in the country with more than 10,000 takeoffs and landings a month.
"The results of the aeronautical study led us to the conclusion traffic will continue to grow at Fredericton airport. Though service offered has been safe, we think the Fredericton airport would benefit from this service," said NAV Canada spokesman Ron Singer.
Singer said a June 5 incident in which five student pilots crossed into the path of an Air Canada Jazz flight, forcing the jet's crew to manoeuvre out of the way, didn't influence the decision.
"We started the study long before that. We've been closely monitoring the traffic at the airport for some time now."
The enhanced service will be phased in beginning Dec. 17 with eight hours of air traffic control tower service.
"Control service is warranted for the busy hours," Singer said.
He wouldn't say what level of service might be in place during off-peak hours.
Pilots are the ones who will notice the most change from the addition of air traffic control services.
Flight service stations are intended to meet the needs of airports with less traffic. Flight service specialists provide advisory services to pilots, including runway and weather conditions, and traffic advisories. It's up to the pilot to decide what to do.
Air traffic control towers are required at airports with higher levels of traffic in terms of number and complexity, such as scheduled passenger flights. Air traffic controllers issue orders to pilots.
Pilots must sometimes wait at length to get access to a runway. The upgrade should help alleviate some of that traffic.
Airport staff members and pilots are thrilled with the decision.
"It's fantastic; I can't tell you how thrilled I am with the news," said Robert Hatheway, a local orthodontist and pilot who also operates Capital Airways.
The company offers training courses to 30 students through an affiliation with the University of New Brunswick as well as private lessons.
"This shows that our airport is becoming more and more relevant with traffic flows. This adds an important element of safety," said Hatheway, who will fly out of the airport this morning bound for his Yarmouth, N.S., dental practice.
David Innes, president and CEO of the Fredericton International Airport Authority, said it's a positive development.
"It's a great announcement. It's a step forward for the airport and a step forward for the community.
"It's going to deal with the traffic situation at the airport.''
The bulk of that traffic is coming from a 180-student flight college that's training pilots for airlines in China. But the airport has also seen considerable growth in the number of commercial and private flights.
Innes also hopes news of the upgraded service will help attract more air carriers.
"Certainly we've had problems in the past, particularly with European carriers, explaining to them what a flight service station was."
Singer said NAV Canada has made a lot of changes in recent years to meet the growing needs at the airport. Staffing has doubled to 12 and staff members were given extra training as traffic levels grew.
"We had made several changes to the way flight service specialists provide services to keep up with the increase in traffic, and they are to be commended for their dedication to safety as the traffic has grown and become more complex," he said.
The Fredericton International Airport was Canada's busiest flight service station in May with 10,790 takeoffs and landings. That was more than twice as many as the second-busiest airport with a flight service station.
The May figures also showed the number of takeoffs and landings at the Fredericton airport was higher than 25 of the 41 airports that have control towers.
The business community said it shows another side of Fredericton's growing vibrancy.
"Even from a perception standpoint, this shows that the Fredericton International Airport has gone from being a small airport to a strong, medium-sized airport,'' said Anthony Knight, CEO of the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce.
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