Report of the Air Issues Task Force on Small Airport Viability September 2006 Table of Contents Executive Summary 1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................... 7 2.0 Definitions.............................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Viability...................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Small Airports ........................................................................................... 7 3.0 Scope of the Work................................................................................................. 8 3.1 Airports within the Scope of the Work................................................... 8 3.2 Description of the Approach.................................................................... 8 4.0 Airport Mission and Role..................................................................................... 9 4.1 Data Elements............................................................................................9 4.1.1 Key Data Gaps............................................................................. 10 5.0 Analysis of Recent Trends.................................................................................. 10 5.1 Demographic Trends.............................................................................. 10 5.2 Air Transport Industry .......................................................................... 12 5.2.1 Overview ...................................................................................... 12 5.2.2 Aircraft Movements...................................................................... 15 5.2.3 Airport Missions............................................................................ 16 5.2.4 Determination of “Dominant” Mission of Airports................... 17 5.2.5 Catchment Areas........................................................................... 19 5.2.6 Airport Safety Regulations........................................................... 20 6.0 The Way Forward.................................................................................................... 21 6.1 Support for Small Airports......................................................................... 21 6.2 Best Practices................................................................................................ 22 6.3 Airport Planning .......................................................................................... 24 6.4 Options for Future Action........................................................................... 25 Appendix A: Recent Studies On Small Airports.......................................................... 27 Appendix B: List Of Airports By Jurisdiction............................................................. 32 Appendix C: Detailed Date Tables (see separate CD) Appendix D: Air Services At Small Airports ............................................................... 38 Appendix E: Overview Of Past And Existing Support To Small Airports ............... 73 Appendix F: Provincial / Territorial Government Support of Airports ....................77 REPORT OF THE AIR ISSUES TASK FORCE ON SMALL AIRPORT VIABILITY Executive Summary In September 2004, the Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety agreed that the viability of small airports is a shared responsibility and that all partners would develop objective criteria and evaluation grids in order to determine the mission of small airports and identify options for future action. This resolution resulted in the creation of the federal-provincial-territorial Air Issues Task Force, led by Transport Canada, whose work is summarized in this report. Transport Canada’s National Airports Policy (NAP), implemented in 1994, categorized all 150 airports1 that were federally owned, operated or subsidized, under six categories: National, Regional/Local, Small, Satellite, Remote and Arctic. Broadly speaking, airports serving a federal, provincial or territorial capital and those averaging over 200,000 passengers per year in the previous three years fell under the National Airports System (NAS) category. Other airports with scheduled air services with less than 200,000 passengers annually were categorized as Regional/Local airports. Airports without any scheduled air service were classified as Small airports. Satellite, Remote and Arctic airports were geographic-based categories. In the case of Remote airports, the Government of Canada saw air services for many of them as “the only reliable, year- round transportation link to isolated communities”2. Under the NAP, the federal government recognized that locally-owned and operated airports are able to function in a more commercial and cost-efficient manner, are more responsive to local needs and are better able to match levels of service to local demands. Of the 150 airports considered in the NAP, Transport Canada continues to own 23 airports in the NAS3 and continues to support 21 Small, Regional or Remote airports.4 Notwithstanding Transport Canada’s operations, the majority of airports in Canada have traditionally been operated by a variety of other entities, including the provincial, territorial, or municipal governments, airport commissions and private corporations. Using 2004 data, the Task Force identified 362 airports for inclusion in its review, covering all 348 certified airports and 14 airports that had been included in the NAP in 1994 but whose status had since changed to “registered”5. 1 Excluding the site designated for an airport at Pickering, Ontario and the site of the former airport at Bonnechere, Ontario 2 Source: Transport Canada, National Airports Policy, 1994 3 The NAS is comprised of 26 airports, 23 federally owned airports plus 3 airports in the Territorial capitals. 4 Excluding Pickering and Bonnechere. 5 An airport is an "aerodrome" for which the Minister of Transport has issued a certificate under the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs). Certification of an "aerodrome" under CARs Part III Subpart 2 is typically required when a scheduled service is provided or when the site is located within a built-up area. 1 For these airports, missions and roles were identified. Missions were broken down into two main categories: commercial and non-commercial. Commercial missions were subdivided into ‘regional’, ‘feeder’ and ‘other’ and were defined on the basis of regular dominant commercial air services with other airports. Disregarding the NAS airports from the 362 airports under study, 51 airports had a ‘regional’ mission, 81 a ‘feeder’ mission and 204 ‘other’. Non-commercial missions included the use of an airport for air ambulance services or as a base for forest fire fighting. Non-commercial airport missions may create pressures for airports to be available on an on-demand, unpredictable and not necessarily recurring basis. Of the airports studied, 131 non-NAS airports did not have non-commercial missions. It is important to note that no airport has a unique mission, and an airport’s dominant mission may be supplemented by other air services activities. A number of studies have been undertaken on small airports in recent years, commissioned by the provincial departments responsible for transportation, Transport Canada, the Atlantic Canada Airports Association, and British Columbia. The first two of these studies led to the adoption of the resolution at the 2004 meeting of the Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety, launching the work of this Task Force. Outlines of the various studies are presented in Appendix A. Each study looked at the many drivers and factors influencing the viability of small airports. The demography of each airport’s catchment area was identified as having a direct impact on the operational and financial opportunities available. However, these studies differed in terms of proposed options to address small airport viability, did not use a common definition of “small airports”, and did not arrive at any consensus on what constitutes a small airport. Consequently, for the purpose of its work, the Task Force adopted a broad definition of small airports, which included all non-NAS airports with an annual traffic volume of less than 200,000 passengers. Such a definition covers a significantly wider range of small airports than the definitions used in the previous studies, thereby allowing the Task Force to obtain a broader view of the airports’ differing situations and roles in the Canadian airport system. Certification imposes compliance to a considerable number of technical and operational specifications in an effort to provide a target level of safety to the aviation community and the public. The Minister of Transport provides safety oversight of these sites as part of the certification program. A registered aerodrome is an "aerodrome" which the Minister of Transport publishes in the Canada Flight Supplement. These aerodromes are not required to comply with any of the technical or operational specifications imposed on an "airport", but do have to meet, and maintain compliance with, a few general specifications listed under CARs Part III Subpart I for publication. The Minister provides minimal oversight of these sites. The number of certified airports in Canada is constantly in a state of flux. When the NAP was introduced in 1994, there were 726 certified airports in Canada. Transport