The Slave Lake airport is getting ready for a busy construction season as more people look to build on the property.

At the May 12 Committee of the Whole meeting, the town council heard how growing interest in the land is helping the local airstrip expand. Councillor Kimberly Hughes, giving the airport commission update, highlighted several new projects coming soon.

A new commercial helicopter hangar is scheduled to start construction in late May. On the private side, a new civilian hangar has already received approval from Nav Canada — the company that manages Canada’s airspace. The town is also expecting the paperwork for a second private hangar shortly.

“In short, there have been multiple inquiries for available land at our local airport,” Hughes said. “So there is lots going on there. It’s very exciting to see that, and there is potential for expansion of the airport here in the near future.”

But welcoming more air traffic means the town must follow strict federal safety rules on the ground.

Hughes noted that the airport commission is currently busy trimming and removing trees around the edges of the property. Under federal rules, airports are surrounded by invisible airspace boundaries. If the nearby trees grow too tall, they cross into these boundaries and create a major safety hazard for planes taking off and landing. To keep the runways certified and safe under Transport Canada standards, the town must chop back the tall trees.

Along with the tree clearing, another long-running repair project is finally nearing the finish line. A shoreline repair project — something the airport has been working to fix for several years — is scheduled to wrap up in late 2026. This type of dirt work is needed to stop the land from washing away and to protect the environment when operating a runway right next to the water.

Hughes said the final shoreline designs will be finished by early summer. From there, the project will go out for construction bids. Heavy equipment work is expected to start in November and finish just before Christmas.

To help with everyday maintenance around the property, the airport commission also approved buying a new half-ton crew cab truck to replace an older vehicle that was simply getting too old to use.

Armaan Khanna
Local Journalism Initiative
Reporter