[The Bess]

More airport news, all though a little old, this is good as I may be flying in and out of Saskatoon a lot more in the near future.

Saskatoon Airport Sees Record Growth
Airport Authority wants to cut down lineups.


Reported By Danny Grummett
Posted May 6, 2009 - 3:25pm

It's about a half decade ahead of its time.

"When the community Airport Authority took over this airport they anticipated that we would be at this current stage that we're at here, in 2009, by about 2015." says Nancy Hopkins, chair of the board of directors for Saskatoon Airport Authority.

Saskatoon Airport is one of the few airports across Canada that saw an increase in passenger traffic last year. Over 1.1 million people flew in and out of John G Diefenbaker airport in 2008. That's an increase in growth of 9.6% over this time last year. That growth is causing some concern among passengers exiting Saskatoon, especially in the early morning.

"That early morning security clearance is the most difficult issue", Hopkins says, " We've run into a space crunch to be able to accomodate that. That's one of the things we'd like to solve sooner rather than later."

Airport C-E-O Bill Restall says the long lines are reflection of the community's growth in recent years.

"We've started to see people flying a lot more," Restall says. He even attributes part of the the growth to a different mindset of the younger generation.

"In my generation a road trip was getting in the old Chevy and head to the beach," Restall recalls, "Well now, in their case its getting on a plane, 'Let's go to Denver and watch a baseball game'. It's a different nature from their perspective."

Restall says as long as people keep filling airplane seats, there are plans to expand John G. Diefenbaker airport to accomodate more people within the next five years.Those plans are still in the early stages.

In the meantime, a fourth line will be added at the departure gate to help cut down on wait times. It's expected to ready in the Fall.