News

Prince George airport runway extension opened

PRINCE GEORGE - Construction of the runway extension at the Prince George Airport was completed last fall and it has had the capability of landing large planes since then. However, Premier Gordon Campbell cut the ribbon to officially open the $33million, 11,450 foot runway Friday afternoon. With the extension, which was equally funded by the province, Ottawa, and Northern Development Initiative Trust, the runway is now the third longest in Canada. The goal when the project started was to lure some business away from Anchorage, Alaska and make Prince George a refueling stop for international cargo flights. The global recession has certainly put a damper on securing some of that business and, as yet, the business hasn’t materialized. However, Campbell, along with federal MPs Jay Hill and Dick Harris and local MLAs Shirley Bond, Pat Bell, and John Rustad are confident the cargo traffic will materialize.