Charlottetown Airport asks for patience during runway construction

Charlottetown Airport is asking travellers to be patient as construction is about halfway complete on the airport's new main runway.

Airport officials confirm there has been a slight increase in cancellations and delays since the work started this spring, but say they've received no formal complaints since a particularly bad day of weather back in April.

CEO Doug Newson says disruptions have been minimal — in the last three months, the airlines completed about 97 per cent of their flight schedules, and not all disruptions were linked to the construction. 

"It's regrettable when there are flights that get disrupted, but I think overall it's gone very well," said Newson.

'Short-term pain'

Newson pointed out the new runway is a "once-in-30-year project," adding "there is a bit of short term pain."

"But once this project is completed we'll have two fairly new runways and we won't be doing any major repair work for the foreseeable future," he said. 

During construction on the main runway all planes are taking off and landing using the airport's new secondary runway. It doesn't have the same navigation capabilities as the main landing strip, so landing in fog or low cloud can be more difficult.

"But we certainly want people to book with assurances that our flights are going to operate and the airlines will get them here as quickly and safely as possible."

Newson said construction is on schedule thanks to the hot, dry weather.

This week crews are starting to lay down asphalt for the new runway, which they hope to complete by September.

The next step will be to paint lines and run tests.

The $18 million project is set to be completed by mid-October.

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