The Regina Airport Authority believes that the Regina International Airport is an economic driver for southern Saskatchewan. The result of this belief is that they are now going out to surrounding communities to see what their concerns are with air travel in Saskatchewan, including a consultation meeting in Yorkton.
Regina Airport Authority President and CEO Richmond Graham says that the trips out to what he describes as the catchment area for the Regina International Airport are important because they want to understand their market better, and part of that is understanding that their market is beyond the city of Regina itself.
“In the Yorkton and Melville area, they have different needs than the rest of the province. We want to understand what that is and how it’s different from other regions, if it is.”
This is a new initiative, and Graham admits that before last year the airport was focused on the needs of the City of Regina more than anything. The push to consult outside of Regina was driven by the board to see what they can do to meet the different needs in the surrounding area.
“We see that we have a tremendous opportunity to have an impact on rural and urban regions both, and it’s not just Regina. That was a big push last year.”
The prevailing mood in the room was that people want to see more flights between Yorkton and Regina, leading to a debate about what makes sense for local traffic and how to connect the two facilities better. Graham says that there needs to be the proper steps to make a service that would make sense between Regina and Yorkton, and that there has to be research before any plans are put in place, but that they want to work with local airport authorities if there is a chance to have a successful service between the two cities.
“We really need to understand what it is that driving the need and the use, do the necessary surveys, understand the market well enough to then prompt that service from a provider.”
