A recent rezoning for the Smithers Regional Airport has made it so they can lease out land to any aviation related companies.

The Smithers Airport has about fifty two hectares of land available for development. The land that is available is divided between groundside and airport industrial development.  Rob Blackburn Smithers Airport says, “Anything aviation related is accepted we have two zones created one for the air side usage and one for the ground side usage so aviation related on the air side would include helicopter companies airplane companies you know people who are unloading and loading off the airplane on a regular basis and on the ground side would be car rental places and those who are trucking depot that would be more on the ground side down on the highway.”

The airport doesn't collect any tax dollars from the town so being able to lease out the land will be a win-win situation for the developer and the airport, Blackburn explains, “So a lot of revenue comes from fuel sales a lot of revenue comes from land and take off fees so we need to bolster our revenues anywhere we can to keep those fees low as possible to keep up competitive.”

Blackburn did say that construction may not start this year but anticipates the companies that are interested in leasing property will begin construction next year, “I would love to see it crowded right now we have a lot of land available and I would love to see it fill up and generating more revenue for the town and for the airport.”