Feds to invest $17M into St. Hubert Airport runways

Transport Canada is set to invest more than $17 million to improve runway safety and capacity at Montreal/St-Hubert Airport, federal Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel announced Monday.

The regional airport receives an average of 50 flights per day; airport officials want to quadruple the amount of flights into St-Hubert in the next decade.

Before that can happen, however, Transport Canada insists major safety upgrades are needed to the 30-year-old runways.

The government investment will help St-Hubert’s airport improve drainage systems, install new runway lights and completely re-enforce and resurface the main runway.

Eventually, the upgrades will allow the airport to accept more flights and some larger turbo prop aircraft, such as the Q400 or ATR 72.

Jacques Spencer, who is the president of airport development, said the improvements would potentially allow commercial jets such as the Bombardier C-Series100 to land as well.

Those suggestions would not come without opposition, however.

Currently the vast majority of flights at the airport are small planes used by flight schools.

Nearby residents have long complained about noise and the safety of flight plans at the airport.

Spencer responded Monday to potential concerns from citizens about noise.

“It's going to be different,” he said. “Right now it's basically schools and it was touch and go, whereas in the future with the possibility of adding normal flights to bigger airplanes in 10 years from now it's going to be like 200 flights a day.”

Spencer said increased commercial flights should be less disruptive than training flights, adding that the investment will ensure the long-term viability of the airport as a hub for regional flights.

Work on the airport isn't expected to start until 2016.