Airport grand opening ceremony delayed

The official grand opening of the new airport in Chesterfield Inlet was put on delay when the plane set to carry a collection of dignitaries to the community on Friday, March 28 experienced a mechanical issue in Iqaluit. Director of Nunavut Airports Division Darren Nichol said the delay was unfortunate but was out of everyone’s control. He said the new airport in Chesterfield Inlet is a brand-new building that’s more spacious with better seating, lots of natural lighting and lots of room to display beautiful local art. “The check-in area, or processing area for passengers, is much more convenient and manageable, as far as getting people in and getting people off,” said Nichol “Retrieving your bags is far more efficient. It’s a much bigger building, so there’s many things that contribute to the new terminal building being a lot better than what was there before. “The old building was built in 1983-84 and was at the end of its rope. It served the community well, but it’s time to move on. The new building is far more efficient with new heating and mechanical systems. It’s got a lot of natural lighting, as well, for the benefit of the passengers and those who work in there.” Nichol said another thing that’s important to acknowledge is that the new building has a full backup auxiliary power system, so, unlike the old building, if there is a power emergency or failure at the airport, it’s covered. He said the backup generator will switch on and there will be power to the airfield and power to the terminal building to make sure the airport operates uninterrupted, which is a huge improvement over the old terminal building. “There’s still pieces that are coming together here. The project isn’t 100 per cent complete yet, but we’re close. There’s still work that’s going to take place in the coming months, but we’re in the neighbourhood of $15 million when completed. “Given the size of the building, and the fact it’s somewhat specialized in being an air terminal building, that’s what it came in at, price-wise. “I’m super happy for the people in Chester. They have a beautiful new building that’s going to be a great benefit to their town. The hamlet has been great along the way, as have the airport folks who work up there and the airlines themselves. “It’s been a long road to hoe, but we got there and we’re super happy that it’s operational. It was boarding passengers there last week and on behalf of me, Nunavut airports and the Government of Nunavut, congratulations to them. It’s well deserved.”