By Michael Boriero
The Corporation de développement de l’aéroport de Sherbrooke (CDAS) and the city of Sherbrooke have resumed their search for business partners in order to establish commercial flights out of the city for the first time since 2009.
CDAS Board of Directors Chairman Claude Charron said in a press release that it is time for the city to close this file, which has been open for nearly two years. Charron and the rest of the board told Sherbrooke’s city council that they will be negotiating with regional carriers.
Charron hopes to present a draft agreement by the end of the fall. CDAS, Sherbrooke Airport’s development council, has already received $3 million over three years from the Fonds d’aide au rayonnement des régions (FARR) to help subsidize start-up costs.
And Sherbrooke has promised to invest $1.5 million, which will be doled out in payments of $250,000 for the first few years. Charron said that the development council is in the same position as it was in two years ago, except private airlines are more willing to negotiate.
