Calgary Airport's Grandiosity: White Elephant, Anyone?

During Plan-It hearings at Calgary City Council on Tuesday, Calgary Airport Authority President and CEO Gavin Atkinson discussed the Airport's position regarding construction of a $394M tunnel underneath a runway that the airport plans to build.

During the hearing, Atkinson mentioned that the planned runway would be the longest in Canada and built to accommodated the larger jets that are used for intercontinental travel.  He said that the goal of the airport is to attract more direct traffic from Asia and Europe.  There are already some direct flights to and from Europe, but the notion of attracting direct traffic from Asia seems grandiose, given the state of the airline industry.

The airline industry is still reeling from the crunch of rising fuel costs and the lingering impact of 9-11.  It would be difficult for an airline to justify landing a direct flight from Asia in Calgary, when Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco provide close access.  While the oil industry and the growing Asian population in Calgary might provide a customer base for flights, such services would be the first to be cut should an airline have to reduce services and expenses.  Given the amount of competition that is taking place between the international airports that have been built in South East Asia during the last 10-15 years (Bangkok, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City) and the financial struggles that those airports have faced, airlines have become accustomed to cuts in landing fees and might expect the same if Calgary expects to lure direct Asian flights.

President Atkinson also indicated that the airport's $3 billion worth of expansion plans over the next ten years would largely be funded by user-fees.  The investment in the fourth runway that the Calgary Airport Authority endeavours to construction seems at best a risky venture given the incredible uncertainty in the global airline industry.  It is more likely that the runway will be an underused resource that may be a burden to the city's entire northeastern quadrant.