The Smithers Regional Airport received some long-awaited federal government funding last week for the purchase of a hydraulic ramp plow.
The Airports Capital Assistance Program funding of $286, 672 pays 95 per cent of the total cost.
The Town of Smithers still has two outstanding applications for purchases through ACAP but this piece of equipment was the facility’s top priority, said airport manager Rob Blackburn.
“It’s unlikely we’ll get all three but it’s not unheard of is what we have been told,” Blackburn said.
Late last year, the Town of Smithers sat down with MP Nathan Cullen and MLA Doug Donaldson to ask the two to apply pressure to the federal government to grant funding to the Smithers Regional Airport.
The funding process is quite lengthy, Blackburn said, and he doesn’t expect to have the equipment at the airport until late this year.
“It will be here, hopefully, in service and ready for next winter,” he said.