Halifax airport welcomes cargo plane on expanded runway

A fully loaded 747 cargo plane carrying casino slot machines bound for Peru left the expanded runway of the Halifax Stanfield International Airport on Thursday morning, opening new markets for air shippers in the Maritimes.

A $28-million runway expansion was completed last year at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport, stretching the main runway from 2.7 kilometres to 3.2 kilometres.

Before the expansion, the larger, wide-bodied 747 cargo planes could not land or take off if they were fully loaded.

Thursday's shipment was handled by Cole International, a Calgary-based freight forwarding company with a branch office in Halifax. The Atlas Air flight, loaded with casino slot machines manufactured in Moncton, is now on its way to a customer in Lima, Peru.

"We probably would not have been able to get this contract without the runway expansion," said Andrea Daniels, a branch manager at Cole International.

Although she would not reveal what the contract is worth, Daniels said it's fair to say it's in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. She said that cost could have doubled without the runway expansion because the 747 would have been forced to land somewhere else to refuel before arriving in Peru.

"It's not just the fuel," said Daniels.

"It's the landing, the airport authority, the operation at whatever airport they have to land."

Peter Spurway, the vice-president of corporate communications at the Halifax International Airport Authority, said the longer runway will bring more business to the airport.

"In the long run, this is a terrific investment in the entire Maritime community for us to able to move high value, time sensitive products quickly to the major markets of Europe and Asia," he said.

Spurway said the Halifax International Airport Authority is getting close to signing deals with new freight companies that could now make regular calls to the city because of the longer runway. The expanded runway also means larger passenger airliners can now land in Halifax.