Aqsaqniq takes over Kitikmeot medevac service

To handle its new medevac service in the Kitikmeot region, Aqsaqniq Airways Ltd. has built this temporary hangar at the Cambridge Bay airport, next door to one of the hangars built by Adlair Aviation, which formerly held the Government of Nunavut air ambulance contract in the region. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

The hand-over is official: Discovery Air Inc.’s subsidiary Air Tindi Ltd. sent out a news release Dec. 6 to announce that the Government of Nunavut had selected its majority Inuit-owned partnership with Aqsaqniq Airways Ltd. to supply Air ambulance services in the Kitikmeot region — news that Nunatsiaq News first reported in September.

The Dec. 6 new release came less than a week after the Cambridge Bay-based Adlair Aviation Ltd., which flew medevac flights in the Kitikmeot for 20 years — and fought to keep the contract — operated its last medical charter for the GN, and its manager Paul Laserich, who died suddenly Nov. 19, was buried in Yellowknife.

“Aqsaqniq Airways offers the opportunity for the regional Inuit ownership group to receive economic benefits as well as training opportunities from the aviation industry, which plays a critical role in Arctic life,” the news release said.

Aqsaqniq, whose directors from Taloyoak include Dennis Lyall, James Eetoolook, Kristine Lyall and Peter Arychuk, plans to operate a fleet of 21 aircraft ranging in size from three to 46 passengers, the release said.

A new hangar, built next door to one of Adlair’s two existing hangars, will be fully operational by Dec. 15, it said.

Aqsaqniq also plans to keep a dedicated, medevac purpose-built Lear jet 35A based in Cambridge Bay, which will be equipped to land on and take-off from the gravel runways of the Kitikmeot communities, similar to the jet flown by Adlair for many years.

Yellowknife-based Air Tindi, which already supplies medevac services to communities in the Northwest Territories, will handle all flight operations.

“We currently have initiated our service with a King Air 200, but in a matter of weeks we’ll upgrade that to a faster, more spacious aircraft while we await the final approval of modifications to the Lear jet,” said Air Tindi’s president Chuck Parker in the Dec. 6 news release.

The plan is to have “no fewer than eight staff,” including medical personnel, aircraft maintenance engineers, pilots, and a medevac operations coordinator in Cambridge Bay.

“We are working with local suppliers and contractors to ensure our presence there delivers the maximum benefit possible to the local, regional and territorial economies,” Parker said.

The Kitikmeot Corp. now stands to reap money from the five-year, $30 million-plus contract to Aqsaqniq through its subsidiary Medic North Nunavut, a majority Inuit-owned partnership between KC and Advanced Medical Solutions Inc., formerly called Medic North Emergency Services Ltd..

Aqsaqniq and Medic North Nunavut plan to earmark $40,000 of their profits for scholarships to students from Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Gjoa Haven, Taloyoak and Kugaaruk “who are interested in pursuing careers in aviation or the remote medical services industries,” the news release said.