A developer is hoping a fly-in community built around an Ottawa-area airport will take off next year.

Plans for the West Capital Airpark near the village of Carp, 35 kilometres from downtown Ottawa, include 180 acres for commercial use and 400 acres of residential development to be called Tailwind Estates.

West Capital Developments, located in Carp, took over the money-losing airport on Dec. 31, 2005, from the City of Ottawa.

It built a new terminal and the airport is now breaking even.

Illustration courtesy of West Capital Development
West Capital Developments sees its Ottawa-area airport and fly-in community as a business destination.

With draft approval and zoning complete, the company expects to start building the 340 homes that will surround the airport this summer. Most will be single-family homes, but there is a possibility of luxury townhomes and duplexes being developed in the interior of the project as the community develops.

John Phillips, an aviation enthusiast and president of West Capital Developments, believes Carp is the right location for a successful fly-in community.

"Ottawa is a business destination, that's why I thought it would work," says Phillips. "It's also the only major city in North America that doesn't have a relief airport."

It's a prime location for business and entertainment, he says. Scotiabank Place, home of the National Hockey League's Ottawa Senators, is less than a 10-minute drive away. Kanata, the heart of Ottawa's high-tech sector, is right next door.

Add to the mix Nav Canada, the federal government in Ottawa and lobby groups, and Phillips believes the potential is there.

He also has plans to have flight and maintenance training facilities at the airport. "It's not a bedroom community," says Phillips. "It's an economic generator."

The reaction from the residents of Carp and the surrounding area has been positive.

Lisa McGee, executive assistant to Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, who represents the area, says the airport is now seen as an asset "that will provide employment opportunities and revitalize the community."

Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) president Kevin Psutka is supportive of the development. "There is no reason why it can't work," he says.

Psutka notes more and more Canadians are taking to aviation. With the strong Canadian dollar "aircraft from the U.S. are becoming way more attractive for Canadians."

This trend is helped by the technological advances that have been made in the industry over the past few years.

Very light jets (VLJ) are becoming increasingly popular and readily available to consumers. These jets typically hold four to eight passengers and are flown by one person.

"It's taking the corporate jet and moving it down to be affordable to the individual," says Psutka.

Canada's Bombardier is absent from the VLJ market, but many other major aerospace manufacturers including Cessna, Honda, Eclipse Aviation and Brazil's Embraer, one of the world's largest aircraft manufacturers, are among the companies putting faith in the jets. Embraer is set to release its first VLJ in 2008, the Phenom 100.

Psutka says the trend is going to be fed even further by the aging population that has money to spend as children move out and aircraft come down in price.

The emerging VLJ market is being watched by many in the aviation industry.

"The advantage of these aircraft is that they aim to minimize delays and disruption by avoiding large hub airports. They will likely compete more with corporate jets and people driving long distances rather than network airline business travel," says Steve Lott, head of communications for the International Air Transport Association.

"The aircraft do seem to offer cost savings over larger corporate jets and some single-engine turboprops. I've seen some forecasts that the VLJ fleet will grow from virtually nothing today to 4,000 in 10 years, with the bulk in North America."

Phillips grew up in Florida and has first-hand knowledge of the fly-in community trend that has been popular in the United States for decades.

These communities allow people to land and park their planes at homes just off a runway that, in most cases, is exclusive to the development.

There are more than 600 of these communities in the U.S., but the trend has yet to take off in Canada.

While most of the American developments are swanky, lavish and sprawling, there is little in Canada that is comparable to the West Capital Airpark proposal - other than the Okotoks Air Ranch, 40 kilometres south of Calgary.

Even then, with a total land parcel of 240 acres, the Okotoks Air Ranch is less than half the size of the West Capital Airpark proposal. And while the air ranch does have a commercial aspect to it, the focus is on the estates.

"(The air ranch was) always intended to be a private residential air community," says Bryce Medd, executive vice-president and airport manager for the Okotoks Air Ranch.

West Capital Airpark is different, says Phillips, because it's a significant mix of commercial and residential development. If similar developments are to follow in the footsteps of the West Capital Airpark, he adds, it will depend on their location.

"In Florida, North Carolina, Arizona and other places, fly-in communities are based on their value as weather destinations," says Phillips. "The success of West Capital Airpark is based on its value as a business location in the nation's capital."

(Devon Babin can be reached at babin@businessedge.ca)