 April 26, 2016 Day two of the three day Airport’s Conference in Nanaimo...)
Post by Candace McKibbon, Executive Director – B.C. Aviation Council (BCAC)
April 26, 2016
Day two of the three day Airport’s Conference in Nanaimo is complete. The packed day featured a variety of sessions featuring panel speakers, Keynote speaker Craig Richmond, and a reception evening at the Port of Nanaimo in partnership with Helijet.
The morning started with a session on generating non-aeronautical revenues with Jim Meyer from SNC-Lavalin and Sammy Patel from Vantage Airport Group. Topics such as trends in food and shopping were explored as well as ways to generate non-aeronautical revenue from parking, advertising, and more. The importance of building strong relationships with your contractors and customers was discussed as satisfied passengers spend approximately 10-15% more than an unsatisfied passenger.
Session two: Where are the Dollars? featured speakers Reg Faubert from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, Greg Cuneo with WSP, and Carsten Mildenstien with Island Savings. The panel addressed key points in applying for funding through the Airport’s Capital Assistance Program and the BC Air Access Program as well as information on sourcing out private investments.
The Keynote speaker for lunch was the popular Craig Richmond, CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority. The keynote was focused on how YVR is planning for large growth in their future. YVR is expecting to add over one million passengers travelling through their airport each year. With such a high demand on growth you may think YVR is too busy to focus on anything else- however they partnered with the McArthur Glen Designer Outlet Centre and opened an outlet mall on Sea Island last year. YVR has also developed automated border kiosks that are utilized at airports and ports of entry all over the world. There are many things the Airport Authority is doing and when YVR is strong it supports the rest of our airports in B.C. Congratulations to YVR as it was just awarded Best Airport in North America for the seventh year in a row and was also awarded Best Health and Safety Culture in Canada in 2015, which Craig Richmond is particularly proud of as safety is one of their key values at the airport authority.
BCAC Airport’s Committee Chair Carman Hendry – Emcee
The afternoon moved into a session called The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and we’re not talking about Clint Eastwood. The session focused on new security program observations, Erin Wiskar from SNC-Lavalin and Neil Drachenberg focused on changes at airports and the integration of Non-passenger screening for vehicles. While Fred Legace from the Kamloops Airport focused on security planning and the processes they recently went through to develop their security plans.
Our last session of the day was Developing Suitable Training Programs. James Bogusz from the Victoria International Airport addressed delegates on the importance of new and recurrent training for employees and ideas on how to track and implement training programs. Lynne Denison-Foster from BCIT Aerospace gave an overview of the BCIT Airport Operations Program and the skills and knowledge BCIT students learn to prepare them for entry-level positions in the aviation industry.
At the end of all sessions, BCAC hosted our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and said goodbye to our Chair, Mark Duncan and welcomed in new Chair, Heather Bell (currently BCAC Vice Chair and Chair of Governance Committee). Six new directors were elected and we will have their photos and bios up on our BCAC Board and Executive section for you to view as soon as possible. Welcome to our new board members, we are happy to have you. And thank you to all the BCAC directors who have stepped down this year, your contributions to BCAC over the years will not be forgotten.
Past BCAC Chair Mark Duncan with New BCAC Chair Heather Bell (& the Nanaimo Bar Martini)
The night ended at the Port of Nanaimo for an event partnered with Helijet, A Look to the Future. It featured the “Nanaimo Bar Trail” which was a variety of Nanaimo Bars…including a Nanaimo Bar Martini, Nanaimo Bar Spring Rolls and of course regular Nanaimo Bars. The Mayor of Nanaimo Bill McKay also attended the event and addressed the crowd, thanking everyone for visiting their beautiful city.
All in all, great day and excellent work by the host airport Nanaimo Airport for hosting such a wonderful conference.
Mike Hooper, Nanaimo Airport
