Prince Rupert’s airport ferry is currently having engine trouble and requires tug assistance to go to and from Digby Island.
“The ferry is undergoing maintenance on one of two engines. As per Transport Canada regulations, the ferry must be tug assisted in case the operating engine malfunctions. This is a fail-safe system to ensure safe transportation of passengers to our airport,” said Veronika Stewart, communications manager for the City of Prince Rupert.
The city-run service is necessary to get passengers to and from the island airport, but it is a financial drain on taxpayers. City of Prince Rupert’s finance department expects municipal taxpayers to subsidize the ferry $1 million in 2018. Residents also pay a user fee when they fly out of Prince Rupert.
When chief financial officer, Corinne Bomben, spoke to city council about the 2018 budget on Feb. 26 she said that Prince Rupert has “one of the most challenging airports to access in the industrialized world” and that the city operates “the only ferry system in B.C. completely independent of any provincial subsidization program or BC Ferry management.”
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