Hamilton airport to get multi-million dollar federal funding for runway improvements

Hamilton’s airport runways are getting the face lift they need to handle all the big aircraft using this hub. Friday morning, the federal government announced it would help with the bill.

“We have exceeded industry averages, 20% growth in cargo and double the passenger activity in the past 24 months. 118% growth since 2016.”
Cathie Puckering, Hamilton Airport CEO.

That means a lot of wear and tear on the asphalt. Sometime near the end of this year, rehabilitation work will start on both the primary runway and the secondary crosswind runway. The taxiway systems that connect the runways and the terminal will also be upgraded and airfield lighting will be replaced with advanced LED technology.

MP Filomena Tassi announced that the federal government will contribute $18.5 million to the project.

“Our economy depends on our transport corridors. We can have the best products in the world, but if we cant get them to customers quickly and reliably we’re going to lose business to competing suppliers and we don’t want that to happen.”

This is a four year construction project that will cost nearly $40 million dollars. The rest of the tab will be covered by Tradeport, the company that runs the airport.

The airport expects the work will create as many as 900 new jobs in the next five years.

Cargo carrier KF Airspace is currently investing $30 million into a new hangar that will allow more and wider aircraft in for maintenance and repair, and also create hundreds of high-tech jobs.