Hail damage at Calgary airport will take at least 18 months to fix: officials

Travellers manoeuvre around buckets catching leaks as repairs are underway at the Calgary International Airport after parts of its domestic terminal building were closed late Monday due to damage caused by hail and heavy rainfall, in Calgary, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

A fast-moving thunderstorm that swept through Calgary earlier this month caused enough hail damage to the Calgary International Airport that it's going to be more than a year before it's repaired.

The Calgary Airport Authority said Wednesday that Concourse B will be closed for a minimum of 18 months as they work to restore the area.

Chris Miles, the airport authority's chief operating officer, says the concourse, located in the domestic terminal building, sustained "very significant damage" in the Aug. 5 storm.

"We have completed the initial remediation work and are now developing a comprehensive plan to repair the roof and interior," he said in a news release.

The good news is that despite the closure of Concourse B and its gates (gates 31-40), Miles doesn't foresee any impact to guests or airport operations.

While there was some damage to other parts of the terminal, those areas have since been fixed.

The total cost of repairs is not yet known.

No guests or airport staff were injured during the storm, but commercial aircraft at the airport were damaged.

WestJet said more than 10 per cent of its fleet, 17 aircraft, was grounded because of hail damage.

On Wednesday, WestJet said three of the damaged aircraft had been returned to service.