Bas-Saint-Laurent: Expansion and makeover for the Mont-Joli airport
The expansions of the Mont-Joli airport, in Bas-Saint-Laurent, have doubled its surface area with an investment of $19 million over the past two years.
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The area of the terminal has doubled and now reaches 400 square meters.
There are two separate arrivals and departures areas, which allows for more fluidity. The airstrip was also refurbished at a cost of $10 million.
According to the president of the intermunicipal board of the Mont-Joli regional airport, the airport no longer has anything to envy to other airport facilities in the province.
“I think Mont-Joli airport is in the big leagues,” launched Bruno Paradis.
“We gain a lot of space, it will allow us to have customer service that will be improved,” he added.
Despite the pandemic and the absence of carriers Air Canada and Sunwing, passenger numbers have caught up pre-COVID. In 2022, 50,000 passengers will pass through Mont-Joli, for 5,500 aircraft movements.
Many of these passengers are employees of mining companies.
“The financial health of the airport is closely linked to the mining companies, so we closely monitor what is happening,” explained the president of the intermunicipal board of the Mont-Joli regional airport.
The authority intends to return to the charge with its Régionair project, since the $500 flights were not a success in Mont-Joli.
“We decided to go back to the drawing board and rework on the Régionair project because obviously it does not meet the needs of the local population,” added Bruno Paradis.
The board of directors of the board also intends to pursue the steps to obtain customs abuses at the airport, which can accommodate passengers from abroad without them having to transit through Montreal or Quebec.