New Taxiway Will Reduce CO2 Emissions At Halifax Airport
Halifax-A new taxiway for the Halifax Stanfield International Airport will make operations more efficient and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to airport officials.
Today, the federal government announced it’s providing $14.7-million for several infrastructure projects at the Halifax airport, including paving runways and projects for Covid-19 testing.
The projects will cost the airport $30-million, meaning the feds are funding about half the cost.
One of the biggest projects covered by the funding is a much-needed new taxiway for airplanes, which will reduce traffic congestion considerably.
Right now, one of the airport’s main runways doesn’t have its own taxiway. This leads to planes having to do a U-turn at the end of the runway, which causes congestion on busy days. (The highlighted area is where the new taxiway will go).
“They turn left, they go all the way down to the runway, then they do a U-turn…then they depart,” explains Dean Bouchard, director of planning and infrastructure for HSIA. “That ties up the runway for quite a bit of time.”
“Subsequent aircraft taking off behind them have to line up. As they start to line up, on a busy day, they actually back up onto the apron around the gates. So other aircraft who are trying to depart can’t back up yet.”
Bouchard says planes can be delayed up to five minutes before departing because of this congestion. That may not seem like much, but it adds up over time. The idling planes also contribute to unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions, so there’s an environmental benefit to this project.
The taxiway project was planned pre-Covid but was put on hold when the pandemic hit. Work is already underway to remove terrain around the runway. Construction on the new taxiway will begin in May.
The Halifax Airport previously received $5.57-million from the federal government’s airport relief fund to help with operation costs.
Joyce Carter, president and CEO of HSIA, says the airport will be looking for more government support. As Huddle has previously reported, Halifax’s airport lost $40 million in 2020 and is expecting 2021 numbers to also look bleak. The airport has also taken on $150-million in new debt to stay afloat during two years of the pandemic.
“In a year where our revenues don’t match our expenses, the support of $5.5-million towards those expenses is very much appreciated,” said Carter.
“Definitely, we’re looking for more support. The $5.5-million is something that we’re grateful for… (but) we will have losses in 2021 that is like 2020. We will continue to have losses in 2022 despite the services that have been announced recently.”
Despite the airport’s financial hardships, Carter said investments will continue in the airport as needed. One thing that may be missing for a while, however, are the number of retail stores and restaurants located in the terminals. With foot traffic down 75 percent, many of those businesses have closed during the pandemic.
“We are absolutely committed to making the investments we need towards those (essential) services,” says Carter.
“When you think about food and beverage…those services are definitely different than they were prior to the pandemic and it’ll continue to be different.”
Derek Montague is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].