| YQQ Celebrates First Year Milestone of New Fuelling Service | |
| February 9, 2011 | News Release |
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YQQ Celebrates First Year Milestone of New Fuelling Service The Comox Valley Airport (YQQ) marked its first successful year in the aviation fuelling business this month. Over 4.1 million litres of jet fuel was pumped into about 1,000 waiting aircraft this past year. Having aviation fuel available on site is a key service offering for all YQQ air carriers including, WestJet, Central Mountain Air, Pacific Coastal and most recently the Air Transat chartered Canjet B-737's. "We are extremely pleased with the results of this service in its first year of operation," said de Silva. "Our partnership with Shell Aviation has been excellent and has allowed us to service our air carriers with jet fuel whenever it is needed. This type of service is essential in attracting additional airlines and routes to the Comox Valley Airport." Shell Aviation built and paid for the 120,000 litre fuel facility and two 20,000 litre fuel vehicles to support the operation. YQQ operates the facility and fuel trucks with five employees, an airside manager and administrative support.  Photo Credit: (From left to right) Comox Valley Airport Commission staff, Ash Mohtadi, Shirley de Silva, Lisa Wilhelm, Joel Louke, George McGill, Ian Heselgrave, Alex Robertson, Scott Harlock, Garry Hynds Original plans estimated a volume of 1.6 to 2.0 million litres of fuel, but this mark was surpassed during the 2010 summer months. The final result was a doubling in fuel demand with over 4.1 million litres of fuel provided. In order to meet this increased need, YQQ hired two additional part time maintenance/fuel employees. "Today's anniversary is a result of more than three years of planning and over $1 million of investment in the new fuel facility, equipment and service vehicles," said Airside Manager Ash Mohtadi. "Our fuel team has done a remarkable job of quickly coming up to speed and maintaining Shell Aviation's quality standards, while satisfying airline's needs. We look forward to a continued successful working relationship with Shell in the years to come." Construction of the fuel facility began in October 2009. The first aircraft fuelled on February 4, 2010 was a WestJet B737-700 aircraft which received 3900 litres of jet A1fuel. Jet fuel services are now available seven days per week. Prior to the launch of the new fuel farm, any refueling requirements were met by 19 Wing Comox. - 30 - Media Contact:Christianne Wile | |