The City of Castlegar has awarded a $1 million contract extension for maintenance at the West Kootenay Regional Airport.
Dexterra Integrated Facilities Management has held the contract since 2021, which is due to expire on Oct. 31. The contract holds an option for two one-year extensions, but airport management instead proposed a single 18-month extension, which the company has agreed to.
“An 18-month extension allows us to better procure services going forward,” said airport manager Danny Clarke.
The extension will last until April 2028, which Clarke said would be a more convenient time to switch operators than if the contract expired in October 2028, as the airport headed into its winter mode.
Clarke said the extension provides “cost and service certainty” before the city issues another request for proposals. Dexterra will be provided with a two per cent increase for 2027 and the first four months of 2028.
“So they are getting cost certainty and having a good relationship with them, they understand the position that we are in,” Clarke said.
The contract extension is worth $1,073,000 plus tax. Dexterra is based in Ontario but has offices across Canada.
Smoke cancels flights
Clarke also told city council last week that five scheduled Air Canada flights over the past month were cancelled due to wildfire smoke. In four of those instances, passengers were bussed to Kelowna to catch a different plane, but in the remaining case, planes were also grounded in Kelowna due to smoke.
Twenty-three other flights successfully got in and out of Castlegar during the same time period. Clarke said recent passenger loads have been sitting at about 80 per cent.
