A petition of over 800 names for increased Trail Regional Airport service was garnered in less than a week and now sits in the lap of city council.
A man who wished not to be identified to the Trail Daily Times deposited a petition of 809 names—collected in six days—in council chambers Monday night during the public question period portion of the their regular meeting.
“I’d like to ask council to extend the service at the airport,” he said during the meeting. He presented the petition to city corporate administrator Michelle McIsaac, with the question “If you are interested in expanded service from Trail Regional Airport to Calgary and/or Kelowna.”
There was no indication of who collected the names or who circulated the petition. Some city councillor names were included on the petition.
Councillor Kevin Jolly made a motion to pass the petition on to staff, and begin the process of contacting Pacific Coastal Airlines on the prospect of extended service.
“There’s definitely a demonstrated need for an extended service,” said Jolly.
Pacific Coastal Airlines operates three flights daily from Trail to Vancouver. According to airport statistics, in the first four months of 2012 more than 10,000 passengers flew through the airport, half of the 20,000 total passengers in all of 2011.
