Nighttime departures by jet aircraft are now permitted at Springbank Airport and some nearby residents say the changes will impact the quality of life in the community.
Officials say there is no formal or regulated restriction for jet activity at the airport and that up until now jet operators have honoured a request to restrict departure activity between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
A formal request was made to the Calgary Airport Authority, which oversees operations in Springbank, to allow the jets to operate at night and the late-night takeoffs started on July 13.
“Right now there is no formal restriction for light jets taking off at Springbank Airport so what we were approached with by the Springbank Airport Business and Pilots Association is to look at what is a bit of an informal agreement to manage some of the hours that jets will be taking off to lift that restriction so they were able to operate their businesses without the impediment of some of those nighttime restrictions,” said Jody Moseley, from the Calgary Airport Authority.
Andy Heffernan has lived in the area for 20 years and says he found out about the changes at a meeting in June.
“There was no discussion. It was advising us that they are going to do a one year trial. They were going to start July 1st but now they bumped it to July 13th so it started this week,” said Heffernan.
Heffernan says authorities are not listening to area residents and their concerns are not being addressed.
“They’re not concerned about us. They’re not really consulting with us, they’re advising us,” said Heffernan. “When the Calgary Airport Authority took over the Springbank Airport, they were supposed to consult residents and Rocky View County with any development at the airport and not advise us, they’re actually supposed to consult with us.”
The airport has more than 50 hangers that house over 400 aircraft and the authority says it needs to be able to grow with the community and this is just the next step.
“What we’re really looking at doing is making sure that when we grow the airport and change the operations that we’re keeping that dialogue open with the people that live within and with the community that the airport grows in,” said Moseley. “It’s one of those evolutionary processes when the airport starts to continue to evolve and the community starts to evolve around it, we respond to the airport business needs to ensure that we are doing what we should be doing, which is to help generate the economy of the Springbank area as well as the businesses that operate out of Springbank Airport, keeping in mind the community that we work within.”
The Calgary Airport Authority says that it will be conducting a study and will be reviewing feedback from area residents and operators.
“It’s a study that we’re going to conduct for twelve months. We’re going to put together a number of parameters that we’re going to look at. Everything from what is the economic impact, what is the noise impact?” said Moseley.
Heffernan says residents don’t appear to have any recourse and he hopes officials will reverse the decision if the project proves to be unsuccessful.
“We’re totally fine with air traffic we just want the departures on jets to change. We worked in a very collaborative way with the airport to minimize the noise complaints on helicopters and that was very successful so we’re hoping we can do the same with jet departures,” he said.
Mosely says it’s important to keep the dialogue open with residents and to work with the community to look at options to see what noise can be mitigated as they move forward.
“What’s really important for us, is again, to really put that study in place, using noise monitors, using feedback from the community to really evaluate what that impact is,” she said.
Those residents wishing to provide feedback on operations at YBW can do so by submitting comments online at HERE or by calling 403-286-7703.
For more information on the operational changes at the Springbank Airport click HERE.
