“One advantage that the Trail Regional Airport has is that the mountains in the vicinity (5 nautical miles) of the airport, range from 5700’ to 6500’ above sea level while the mountains around the West Kootenay Regional Airport (Castlegar) range from 6500’ to 8000’.
“The lower terrain can facilitate the movement of weather due to fewer obstructions. Having said this; one would expect that generally speaking, weather between the communities would be very similar given their proximity and being in the same valley.” (page 86 Wave Point Consulting’s report on TRA Economic Impact Assessment, August 21, 2012).
Huh?
If the weather were that similar then we would not be seeing the frequent flight cancellations to or out of Castlegar airport.
Two of my friends have been rerouted to Cranbrook from Calgary or told to take the bus to Calgary. Another friend tried to get out to Vancouver out of Castlegar and all three flights were cancelled.
Luckily, TRA got in and out all three of its flights to and from Vancouver.
The preparers of the report cited above are two retired federal public servants from the lower mainland.
I doubt they’ve ever tried to get in and out of Castlegar airport during October to May.
What they also lost sight of in their lengthy report is service to the travelling public. They don’t seem perturbed to send travellers over the Salmo Creston in winter to take flights to or from Cranbrook.
Rose Calderon
Trail
