Due to extreme cost increases, the Dryden Regional Airport will no longer be able to offer customs services to airlines looking to land in Dryden.

At a current cost of $18,000, the service is due to increase in cost to $37,000 for the 2011 year, and upwards of $100,000 or more for 2012. Sioux Lookout and Red Lake have also pulled the pin on the services due to cost.

“We were getting to the point of diminishing returns, on what we were paying for customs and what we were seeing in regards to benefit,” said Airport Manager George Friesen. “In most of our opinions, Red Lake and ourselves, at the current rate it was still sustainable, but getting such short notice and doubling the rates, that was a no-go situation. We had to quickly make an operational decision and so we’ve decided to discontinue.”

Friesen said there will be some vast impacts on our local airport, including the ability to charge international landing fees and a loss in the market of technical stops for corporate clients, carrying on to other parts of the country and the loss of revenue from fuel sales.

“The corporate people preferred coming in here a lot of the times for those technical stops given the fact that we’ve got the infrastructure to support larger sized aircraft and the ILS, that’s the big factor,” said Friesen.

Having been in the seasonal custom business the longest in the area, since 1995, Friesen says it’s regrettable to see that taken away. Any traffic that is coming to Dryden will have to stop at other entry points, which could include Fort Frances, Kenora, Thunder Bay or Winnipeg.

“What are you supposed to do? We can’t, as a community, sustain that kind of cost,” said Friesen.

Friesen says some reasons for the increased cost include doubling staffing for the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) as well as changes in regards to training and equipment that is required by staff.

Friesen says the local tourism industry could be affected as well with the lack of ability to accept American charter flights landing in Dryden with passengers heading to the local tourist facilities.

“Any time you put a restriction on the ability to move people and services, there is an impact. I’ve already talked to a number of charter companies in the United States and they regret the fact that we don’t have custom services here anymore,” said Friesen.

Custom services was due to begin on May long weekend.

By Ally Dunham – ally@drydenobserver.ca