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Primary runway reopens at Saskatoon airport

Saskatoon Airport Authority officials reopen the airport's main runway at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Oct. 17, 2023. Global News

Travellers through Saskatoon’s airport will once again be taking a familiar route on arrival and departure.

The airport’s primary runway, runway 09/27, reopened to air traffic Tuesday afternoon after undergoing rehabilitation since the summer of 2022.

“The scope included almost five kilometres of drainage line. Thinking about the runway itself, of course there’s a huge pavement component,” said Stephen Maybury, president and CEO of the Saskatoon Airport Authority.

“There’s also lighting, runway edge lighting as well as new approach lighting… at both ends of the runway.”

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The repairs are part of the airport’s rehabilitation cycle, which requires runways to be resurfaced roughly every 25 years.

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The upgrades will enhance the airport’s performance, says Maybury.

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“Operational efficiency-wise, this is an improvement,” Maybury said. “The approach lighting is now at both ends of the runway, which assist in the approaches and accessibility of the runway, so that will improve things.”

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It will also change air traffic routes to and from the airport to past travels paths.

“We used fully the secondary runway, which changed the aircraft travel patterns throughout the community and that’s why certain communities would see more traffic than previous… and we thank them for their patience,” Maybury said.

The total cost of the project was $16 million, which Maybury calls on target. The federal government provided half the funding through its airport critical infrastructure program.

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