CamBay airport in poor shape, Nunavut government says

A passenger walks toward the terminal building at Cambridge Bay’s airport in April, 2010. A new report says the airport “urgently” needs millions of dollars of upgrades, including a paved runway and extended terminal building. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)

Cambridge Bay’s airport needs urgent upgrades to bring it up to national standards, according to a study released by the Government of Nunavut.

“The airport is relatively poorly equipped to support modern, reliable air services,” reads the report, prepared by LPS Avia consulting.

Among the problems: an undersized terminal building that will be unable to handle the expected growth in passenger traffic through Cambridge Bay.

Today, the airport hosts 19,000 passengers annually, a figure that is expected to rise to 25,000 by 2020.

To fix that, the report recommends doubling the terminal’s current size over the next decade.

Cambridge Bay is also the last airport in Canada with scheduled jet service to use a gravel runway, the report states.

The study calls for the runway to be paved and extended within five years.

According to the report, “many stakeholders view the current apron size as completely inadequate and congested and believe it presents a potentially hazardous situation.”

And people in the community view paving the runway as a necessary step to preserve jet service between Cambridge Bay and Yellowknife.

The improvements are also seen as a way to stoke the development of the Kitikmeot’s growing mining industry, with at least 16 companies operating nearby, mostly in the heavily-explored area around Bathurst Inlet.

The report also predicts major growth in passenger traffic, based on forecasted population growth in Cambridge Bay from 1,500 in 2006 to 2,400 by 2026.

There are now 36 scheduled passenger flights per week at the airport, between airlines Canadian North and First Air.

Cambridge Bay’s airport also needs:

• improved gravel shoulders around the edge of the runway;
• and extended apron to relieve aircraft congestion;
• better lighting and landing systems;
• new lots for airside commercial development;
• realignment of the airport’s access road.

The cost of the short-term improvements is pegged at $34.4 million.