Derrick Stanford, president and CEO of the Saint John Airport, speaks during an announcement at the airport on August 19, 2019. (Photo: Brad Perry/Wave News)
A $20-million runway restoration project at the Saint John Airport is running on time and on budget, according to airport officials.
Work includes repaving the runways, installing new lighting, repairing the drainage system, and adding runway end safety areas.
“The short runway is all done — all the lighting, the new paving, the drainage, all the line painting,” said Derrick Stanford, president and CEO of the airport, on Monday.
Stanford said construction moved this week from the short runway to the long runway, which will be closed for the next couple of months.
There is the potential for some flight impacts while the work is being done on the longer runway, he said.
“The longer one is the instrument one, so if a pilot is wanting to do an instrument-only takeoff or landing, it may impact his ability to do that. We’ll always be safe, we’ll always be open, but there is that very slight chance.”
But Stanford noted there were no issues when the runway was closed for just over two weeks in May to install the infrastructure for the centreline LED lighting.
It's a busy day here at #YSJ! 🚧 pic.twitter.com/lhpFgcDkd2
— Saint John Airport (@YourSJAirport) July 17, 2019
As for when the work on the long runway will be completed, Stanford said it has to be open again by late October.
“[Air Canada] Rouge starts in Saint John on October 27th and they’re using an Airbus A319, so they absolutely need the longer instrument runway,” he said.
The provincial and federal governments announced a combined $14 million for the work in April of 2018. The Saint John Airport is also contributing more than $6 million to the project.
The airport is also installing new equipment in the long-term parking lots to improve the reliability and speed of the parking equipment.
Work on Lot #1 wrapped up earlier this week and Lot #2 is now closed until Sept. 2.
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