International Aviation Experts: City Centre Airport a critical asset

June 23, 2009

Click here to download the study.

EDMONTON -- A decision to close Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA) would cost the city a key transport infrastructure asset, with economic output estimated to exceed $400 million per year, say London-based Ascend Aviation Insight in a report commissioned by Alberta Enterprise Group. 

Over a 10-year period, the net-present value of the ECCA’s economic output is estimated to be nearly $2.7 billion. 

The reported, entitled “Assessing the Economic Potential of the Edmonton City Centre Airport,” further concludes a decision to close the airport would cost current and future users up to $180 million in lost productivity over the next ten years. 

Ascend Chief Economist Peter Morris notes that a decision to close Edmonton City Centre airport would fly in the face of global evidence. 

“It’s a mystery why any municipality in 2009 would throw away an asset that, as one local business has pointed out, represents ‘one of the most accessible city airports in North America’,” said Morris. “And that is before you count the employment costs and the hit to the future of Edmonton.”

Morris also debunked the argument that traffic currently being hosted by ECCA could easily be absorbed at Edmonton International Airport (EIA). 

“Such thinking takes no account of the hard realities of the air transport market,” said Morris. “Indeed in Canada alone we have two of the most powerful examples of what does and does not work with airport markets. The ‘white elephant’ of Montreal Maribel showed how you cannot force passengers to do things they do not want to do, and Toronto Porter shows how a niche business-oriented airport can provide a key business aviation resource that prospers, even in a downturn and with restrictions.”

Ascend was commissioned to look at the economic impact of closing ECCA by the Alberta Enterprise Group. Their study looked at the economic impact of business aviation and notes that airports that serve business aviation serve more destinations than large commercial airports. In May 2009, Flights from ECCA went to more than three times as many destinations as were served by daily scheduled flights from EIA. 

The report also shows how independent management of city airports had appeared to benefit consumers significantly and encouraged operators to provide the best range of services to meet market needs. The vision of the report was of a vibrant successful airport serving a direct business need for Edmonton and Alberta, and complementing the range of services from the International Airport.