Mayor Al McDonald is welcoming Air Canada’s return to the North Bay Jack Garland Airport.
“It’s incredible news not just for the City of North Bay and the airport, but also for our local businesses and industries that depend on travel,” McDonald told MyNorthBayNow.com.
The federal government announced Monday it will be providing nearly $6 billion in low-interest loans to Air Canada to help it recover from losses suffered during the pandemic.
Part of the deal includes resuming service to regional airports, including North Bay.
“It’s important to cities like us that have 65 mining companies, 500 work in the aviation business, plus all the businesses that need it directly,” McDonald noted.
City council has been financially supporting the Jack Garland Airport, agreeing to spend $1.5 million to cover its finances as services were diminished by the pandemic. Since the city and airport entered a partnership in 2003, it was the first time the airport has needed government subsidies.
The decision was met with criticism from citizens and even one councillor at the time, with Mark King saying the city’s support of the airport takes the higher of levels of government “off the hook”.
Now that regional air service will return, McDonald says it validates council’s decision.
“City council took a lot of criticism for supporting the airport but they need to think long term and have a vision on where the city needs to go. Unless you’re really in the trenches, it’s hard to understand why an airport is so important to us. But at the end of the day, council remained strong,” he said.
McDonald says he’s been in constant contact with MP Anthony Rota about getting regional air service returned to the area after it was cancelled early in the pandemic.
“It really shows when everyone is working together for the best interest of the city, good things happen,” the mayor said.
Pending the lift of travel bans, regional service of Air Canada is scheduled to resume on June 1 of this year, according to a news release from Nipissing-Timiskaming MP, Anthony Rota.
