With a new vision, a new mandate, and a new plan to engage the regional community, Red Deer Regional Airport's CEO says the airport's future is looking bright.ìWe have a tremendous opportunity to continue to develop this airport and to continue to see it become part of the value chain of economic development in the region,î said R. J. Steenstra, who took over the reins at RDRA in March. ìIt's not just about a piece of infrastructure, but that it's fully integrated into the transportation and economic development network within the Central Alberta region.îIn a presentation to Red Deer County council last month, Steenstra, 39, quoted travel writer Pico Iyer saying, ìAirports say a lot about a place because they are both a city's business card and its handshake. They tell us what the community yearns to be as well as what it really is.îSteenstra said RDRA will achieve its goals though a relentless focus on the fundamentals in order to position the airport to be more interactive with the broader regional community.ìThe fundamentals really are about operations and the excellence of business operations, business development and where that takes us in the air service perspective, but also from a development perspective and then, as well, community engagement and community leadership,î he said.The airport will also receive a new identity this fall when its logo and website will be rebranded, Steenstra explained.ìIt's pushing forward a very professional face to the airport and a place that engages people to say, ëWe want to do business with this airport.' (The website is) their first impression. It's a very important element, but it isn't the solution.îAnother part of the solution is to encourage more businesses ñ both aviation and non-aviation related ñ to set up shop on airport property, Steenstra said. The airport, which contributes an estimated $40 million to the regional economy each year, currently has 45 tenants, including 13 commercial tenants, 26 non-commercial tenants and six ìmiscellaneousî tenants. It boasts one scheduled carrier and four charter carriers that fly to five destinations in Alberta and Saskatchewan and sees a total of 39,000 aircraft movements throughout the year. There are now discussions taking place to bring another scheduled carrier to the airport in 2012 and a third in 2013.ìThat's a really important number for us,î Steenstra said. ìWhile the other elements help us generate diversity in our revenue base and help us move to sustainability, it's the scheduled passenger numbers that drive the classification of the airport and our ability to access some federal grants.îThe increased scheduled service will allow the airport to count passenger numbers that will in turn allow it to access more federal infrastructure dollars and move toward self-sustainability by 2014.The airport will also host a number of events throughout the year to encourage residents to pay a visit. Three vintage aircraft - a Harvard Mark IV, a Fairchild-Cornell and a Stearman PT27 ñ will be at the airport tomorrow (Wednesday) as part of the Yellow Wings Tour, which celebrates the role Canadian airports played in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan during the Second World War. Twenty-minute flights on the aircraft can be booked by visiting www.vintagewings.ca.ìFor me, my objective is to tell the story here,î Steenstra said, explaining that airlines serve their markets, not their airports. ìUltimately, that serves the community. That's really why we're here ñ to serve the community.î
