The Greater Moncton International Airport is seeking to expand its runway to 10,000 feet as it competes in the region's air cargo industry.
The runway expansion to 10,000 feet (or 3,048 metres) project is the next step in the airport's long-term plan to expand its air cargo facilities.
Moncton is second behind Halifax in the region for air cargo shipments.
The Halifax Stanfield International Airport announced earlier in 2011 that it is about to lengthen its longest runway at a cost of $28 million.
The extension — from 2,682 metres to 3,200 metres — will allow the airport to handle larger wide-body and heavy aircraft.
Rob Robichaud, the airport authority's manager, said the runway expansion is another element in its plan to attract a regular cargo flight to Europe and Asia.
Robichaud said there are 800 cargo flights a day flying overhead that could land in Moncton.
"Given that a good portion of those aircrafts are Boeing 747s and aircraft of similar size and only partially full flying between the U.S. and Europe, we need to have a runway that will accommodate them," he said.
Robichaud would like to see construction of the new runway begin next spring.
The airport's longest runway right now is 8,000 feet or 2,438 metres.
He said the longer runway would be more attractive to companies seeking a place to stop.
Robichaud said most of the seafood from the Maritime region is on some of the 800 cargo flights that travel between the United States and Europe.
The airport authority's manager said he's trying to get at least one to land in Moncton.
"We have an uphill struggle. That's why it's so important to get a brand name airline in here that people recognize, know it's going to be here tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day and the next day," he said.
Robichaud said the world's large freighter-type aircraft are looking for a 10,000-foot runway at a minimum.
If Moncton expands the runway, Robichaud said he will be able to pitch his airport as a place they can save time and fuel by landing in Moncton and trucking their goods to the United States.
He said a lot of airfreight in New York sits in customs for up to three days. Yet it takes only one day to get goods from Moncton to New York by truck.
In 2009, the Moncton airport launched a study that examined ways the facility could become the air cargo hub of the Maritimes.
According to the Moncton airport's statistics, in 1997 its cargo volume was 14,000 metric tonnes. In 2007, the airport's cargo volume jumped to 24,527 metric tonnes.
Meanwhile, the Halifax airport handled roughly 28,000 metric tonnes of cargo in 2008.
