Winnipeg International Airport is readying for takeoff with a $560-million facelift that will provide a new terminal, roads and parking facilities.

The 40-year-old airport building is deteriorating, and an independent audit revealed renovations would be more disruptive and expensive than building a new one.

Construction of a new 51,000-square-metre terminal northeast of the existing one will be completed in four years, along with a four-level, 1,600-stall parkade. The project, including parking, terminal, roadways, civil site works and infrastructure, is being financed by an airport improvement fee. About $30 million has already been collected from travellers.

"We'll issue bonds which will be paid off by the airport improvement fee just like a mortgage," said Barry Rempel, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Airport Authority (WAA).

Illustration courtesy of Winnipeg Airport Authority
An artist's conception of the exterior of the new Winnipeg International Airport terminal

"According to projections, the $15 airport improvement fee will be sufficient for the entire period. The roadways will be complete by 2006. Then work will start on the building, ending in 2009."

The WAA held a groundbreaking ceremony Sept. 15 that was attended by about 100 business executives and politicians.

"We've taken a very consultative approach to this entire process," Rempel said. "It is our intention to serve the community excellent facilities in a financially prudent manner."

The largest single project to date in the city, the new terminal will boast facilities that don't exist elsewhere in this country, he noted. Passengers will be able to serve themselves in the airport's kiosks, doing away with boarding passes, seat selections and tickets.

Airline representatives will still be on hand for those passengers who desire human contact, but the new technology will render it superfluous.

"Control of the airport experience will be placed in the customers' hands," Rempel said. "They will have more control of the process, which will require less time. Travellers will be able to check in from home on a personal computer or a PDA, and then walk straight in."

The passenger check-in and security functions will be "common-use facilities" in the new terminal.

That means the airport will own the technology travellers link to, instead of each carrier having a separate facility. This arrangement will require less space, and offer a single security processing point for local as well as international flights.

Apart from security, passenger check-in and baggage belts will be shared by multiple carriers.

According to Rempel, the expansion and renovation will lead to the creation of 7,301 jobs that will deliver about $311 million a year in wages, creating $391 million worth of GDP and a total economic output of about $1 billion.

Illustration courtesy of Winnipeg Airport Authority
The main concourse level of the new Winnipeg International Airport terminal.

The existing facility has some structural problems that must be addressed before it could potentially be used for other purposes, he said. The business plan includes the cost of demolition, though the WAA will shortly issue a call for expressions of interest in redeveloping the site.

Not everyone is enthused by the project. Shannon Martin, director of provincial affairs for Manitoba at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), said the money would be better spent on other infrastructure projects such as roadways.

"We recognize the current state of Winnipeg and Manitoba's public infrastructure and the so-called infrastructure deficit," Martin noted. "Small and medium-sized businesses are keenly aware of the importance of infrastructure for healthy communities and local economies.

"While the current expansion of Winnipeg's international airport may benefit frequent flyers, the funds would be better utilized by addressing higher priorities, such as Manitoba's crumbling roadways."

Professor Barry Prentice of the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba is a supporter of the airport renovation.

"New is always better, and building on a greenfield site is likely less expensive and certainly causes less annoyance for passengers than to try to refurbish an airport terminal while it is still being used," Prentice said. "Moreover, the demands for security and other developments make a new terminal a better idea.

"New construction will also be more energy-efficient and incorporate the newest ideas in airport terminal flow. Size is an issue that is always open to debate."

These are very long-lived assets, which must be built to accommodate the traffic expected in the next 20 to 40 years, he added.

In the short run, Winnipeg may have a cavernous airport terminal but, by the middle of its life, it would meet anticipated demand.

Prentice's criticism of the WAA is not for the new terminal, but for its lack of vision for creative use of the old one. Simply razing the old terminal is a loss of opportunity, he said.

Such a building could become a conference centre, an art gallery, an educational facility or a transportation museum.

Prentice said he knows the WAA is open to groups that come forward with a plan, but believes the WAA should be leading this community development opportunity, not sitting back and waiting for others to take the initiative.

"After all, it is not really their building to destroy, but a public building that has been placed in their trust by Canadian taxpayers," declared Prentice.

Prentice feels the new terminal will make very little difference to competing airports.

"Winnipeg traffic is 85-percent origin/destination," he insisted. "With very little connecting traffic, how will we attract more with a new terminal? This is really for local consumption."

Being the last one built, continued Prentice, gives the WAA the opportunity to incorporate the best of all other airports. It should prove a very attractive airport terminal. Whether this is what passengers need is another matter.

"The standard has been set, and no one is going to build a modest building when everyone else aspires to a 'Taj Mahal' level," said Prentice. "Nevertheless, this is really for local consumption and local passengers are paying for it, so the WAA might as well have a building they can be proud of owning, since airport terminals are the cathedrals of a new era."

Added Ron Pradniuk, chair of the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (Manitoba/ Nunavut Regional Council): "The project will complement everything else happening in Winnipeg, like the new hockey arena and the Millennium Library being constructed downtown. The arena is becoming a popular venue for major entertainment events.

"With a vibrant provincial economy, travel agents are excited because more airlines will want to land here. The WAA project will act as a catalyst, leading to more conventions and increased tourism."

The WAA is committed to creating a world-class airport to match that of any city with a population of up to a million, Pradniuk said.

"Winnipeg has a progressive mayor pushing for development. His plan to have waterfront condos will be yet another catalyst for economic growth," Pradniuk added. "Our airport is getting a little tired. The new terminal will offer better packaging of services, and may trigger the construction of larger hotels as well.

"On completion, the airport will be able to compete, functionally as well as esthetically, with the Vancouver and Toronto airports."

(Ashoke Dasgupta can be reached at dasgupta@businessedge.ca)