Regular scheduled commercial flights could be coming to Revelstoke once a new flight system is approved next month, says the manager of the airport.
NAV Canada is expected to sign off on the new NAV system for the Revelstoke Airport on Sept. 20. Once installed, it means that pilots will be able to land their planes using instrumentation, instead of solely by sight.
“It means planes that are above clouds will have a procedure to come down to a certain height,” said airport manager Ed Wozniak. “It’s a small step towards a possible scheduled service.”
As it is, the narrow valley combined with frequent cloud cover makes landing at the airport challenging on many days.
The NAV system would guide planes down to an elevation of about 750 metres, which is about 300 metres above the elevation of the airport. From that point, pilots would have to land by sight.
Currently the Revelstoke Airport is used mostly by small prop planes. Several commercial airlines attempted regular service to Revelstoke but with little success.
Small passenger planes, like a Bombardier Dash-8 are capable of landing at the airport.
Rod Kessler, the Chief Operating Officer of Revelstoke Mountain Resort, said there have been talks about renewed commercial service to Revelstoke.
“There’s been interest from several different carriers to get scheduled flights,” he said without naming names. “Everyone’s most anxious to revive flights back into Revelstoke.”