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By Daniel Martins
martins.daniel@miramichileader.com

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An airport consulting firm has come out against the idea of an air cargo business at the Miramichi Airport.

The report by Jacobs Consulting was presented by the Miramichi Airport Commission at a public meeting Thursday, and is meant to help the airport develop a fiveyear business plan.

Airport Commission chairman Ray Stinson noted the cost of the upgrades needed to make such a business work, such as lengthening the runway and installing a new instrument landing system, would be around $45 million.

“We don’t have $45 million, and neither does the province of New Brunswick,” Stinson said to the dozens of attendees at the meeting. “So we have to go after the grants.

In order to go after the grants, we have to have a business case. We have to have a business plan to do that, and there’s been no business plan that’s been provided at this point time.”

Further, he said many of these types of operations were no longer required, due to the rise of new aircraft types that are able to fly non-stop to many different markets. He said similar attempts at airports out west have stalled.

Imperial Air Cargo president Ladislav Molnar raised the issue of the difficulty the company had faced in attempting to work with the commission to make their proposed international air cargo business viable.

“You no want the business here,” Molnar, who is originally from Czechoslovakia, said. “Since 2005, you know about this project, do not go forward. You no want to create new team here.”

“Many aviation companies approached [the] place,” Molnar continued. “Not opening door.”

Marlene Molnar, who is the company’s vice president, attacked the confidentiality of the airport.

“When my husband and I came here, everything was confidential. Everything,” she said in an often angry voice.

“You have no idea what we have gone through.”

“How many times have we asked you ... to present a business plan?” Stinson shot back at her.

“I am not talking about a business plan, I am talking about living in a democratic country,” she said, adding she “stands for justice.”

George Martin, a member of the commission’s board of directors, mentioned meetings between Imperial Air and the commission and the city, where the Molnars presented their idea.

“The response was at both of those meetings ... hey listen, we’d like to help you, we’d like to partner with you, bring us a business plan,” he said. “The province of New Brunswick told you the same thing.”

Report makes three key recommendations The Jacobs report makes several recommendations for the future of the airport. The option with the highest revenue potential is establishing what it called an “aviation business park.”

“The existing market conditions and demand for mixed use commercial or light industrial sites is currently greater than for aviation,” it read.

An aviation training centre could also be in the cards, and the report identifies the Moncton Flight College, which is currently searching for another satellite training base. The report said the Miramichi airport is one site under consideration.

However, the report said other flight training schools should be pursued if the Moncton opportunity does not come through.

Air service is the third possibility, although the report acknowledges this would be the difficult to attract, given poor market dynamics, the dominance of the Moncton airport and the emergence of the Bathurst airport.

The best opportunity for scheduled passenger service would include a twice-daily flight to Montreal, but a carrier other than Westjet or Air Canada should be considered.

Corporate air charter service to employees destined for the oil and gas projects in Newfoundland were also mentioned. However, charter flights to Alberta were discouraged, as the demand was seasonal and there was not enough passenger volume to support such a service at this time.

It also said U.S. hunting and fishing flight operators may fly in to the airport is CANPASS customs service could be restored, allowing tourists to bypass Moncton Among other recommendations were asking the city to provide tax-exempt status to the airport, saving around $34,000, lengthen the runway, develop a marketing program to draw private aircraft during the hunting and fishing seasons and implement a public awareness campaign.

Airport financial report shows surpluses Stinson said the plan Jacobs Consultancy put together would help the airport focus its efforts.

“In general, they are saying the outlook for the airport in the long term is positive,” he said.

“We felt that we needed to go forward.

We’ve been treading water too long, we’ve been in survival mode.”

However, he said, the airport had not been idle, serving as an important base for the Natural Resources Department and Forest Protection Ltd., as well as other tenants.

Financially as well, things had changed over the past few years, and the airport was “in good shape.”

“We’ve turned the corner,” he said. “We’ve had financial stability, we’ve had profits for the last five years, so we thought, now is the time to get a move forward.”

Attendees ask questions, make comments One attendee, Ibrahim Faizal, asked if the board had any experience with airport management.

Martin pointed to airport manager Dale Mattinson, who has experience as a pilot and is involved in all commission meetings, but Faizal said managing an airport was different from being a pilot.

“How do you expect to run an airport when you don’t have anyone who knows how to run an airport?” he asked the board.

One board member, Ming Au, noted he, like most of the other board members, had business experience.

He added the airport’s efforts at improving its finances put it into a stronger position to connect to future opportunities.

“Without the money saved, our airport could have disappeared a long time ago,” he said.

Among the documents handed out at the meeting was a fact sheet detailing the airport’s financial history.

The numbers show revenues increasing from $242,700 in 1995 to a peak of $519,000 in 2000. From there, they declined somewhat, but remained more or less steady. In 2007, revenues were $434,800.

Operating expenses, in contrast, show a steady drop from $763,150 in 1995 to a low of $343,100 in 2006. The following year, they were $411,700.

The airport has shown a profit for the last six years.

Aside from the financial history, the commission also released its audited 2007 financial statements and a copy of the consultant’s report to attendees, in a marked departure from its previous reluctance to release information of that nature.

Stinson made note of the commission’s “strong bank account.”

“If we’d not done anything right, how could we be in that situation?” he asked.

“You could have been a lot better, that’s why I’m saying,” Faizal replied.

In further discussions, Marlene Molnar, Stinson and Martin argued over eight studies Molnar said had been done at the airport, with only two jobs created.

“Where are the studies, and what are they entitled, and who did them and for who?” Martin replied. “We don’t know what you’re talking about.”

After further argument, Martin said Imperial Air had “a bone to pick.”

“We’ve met with you people, we’ve said give us a business plan,” he said. “We’ve sat right at this table, right in this room, and the province did the same thing, and the city did the same thing and you haven’t given us anything back.”

Coun. Bill Treadwell, who was at the meeting along with several other city councilors, raised the issue of the business plan and asked where such a plan should be submitted if it was completed.

Stinson replied it could be given directly to the commission, or through an intermediary, reiterating any such project could not proceed without one.