Vancouver (Western Aviation) – In a bold move, Vancouver International Airport cancels a major construction project half-way to completion. YVR’s so-called CORE programme would have produced enough clean energy to heat 1,000 homes and made the facility a global leader in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Vancouver airport said is cancelling construction as a result of financial pressures stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“Cancelling this major infrastructure project was a difficult but necessary decision,” said Tamara Vrooman, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver Airport Authority. “We simply do not need the capacity this project brings for the foreseeable future and need to prioritize our resources elsewhere.”
Then-CEO Craig Richmond launched the $460 million project in June 2018. It was a massive undertaking – one of the largest geo-exchange systems in the country together with a parkade that could be converted to office use. It was being built in an area that formerly housed the airport’s value parking, near the main terminal. Two years later, the bones of a new parkade stand waiting to be finished. Massive geothermal wells sit idle. The project was due for completion in 2022.
But the airport said it doesn’t need either the extra parking nor the energy as passenger numbers dwindle. Crews will stop construction in its tracks, though they will be on the site until the end of November. The airport said work could resume at some point in the future.
An unrelated expansion of the airport’s international terminal is continuing. Construction on that project is due to wrap up by the end of the year.
But ongoing construction is sapping the airport of badly-needed funds.
Redistributing cash
“I want to emphasize that making this decision is one more step in preserving the ongoing financial stability of Vancouver Airport Authority so that we can continue to serve our community and focus our resources on the immediate needs of the airport,” said Vrooman.
Those needs include a trial being developed with Westjet to test passengers for COVID before they board their flight.
