A new $15-million facility will feature three separate hangars. Photo Credit: Hamilton International Airport/Facebook.
John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM) will soon be the site of a new $15-million facility that will feature three separate hangars that will reportedly be designed to incorporate “an array of premium services.”
The new multi-use Fixed-Base Operator facility is led by Biddle Carson Developments.
Two tenants, private aircraft charter company FlyXcite and helicopter and fixed wing completion specialists Aerofina Aviation, have already been secured for some of the hangar space.
In the 100,000 square foot facility FlyXcite will occupy 30,000 square feet while Aerofina Aviation will occupy 20,000 square feet.
The third 50,000 square foot hangar is scheduled to be available within the next two years.
Meanwhile, the two other hangars will be constructed in phases, with the first phase expected to be complete in late 2025.
Premium services that will be incorporated in the hangar design are said to include a lounge, conference room, and second-floor observation deck for viewing aircraft arrivals and departures.
The facility will have access to the airfield via Taxiway Foxtrot which is Hamilton International Airport’s newest taxiway and road access via the recently built Aviation Drive.
The project by Biddle Carson Developments is the second project to break ground at Hamilton International’s Northeast Airport Development Area.
Latitude Air Ambulance broke ground on a new 44,000 square foot hangar and office complex in the Northeast Airport Development Area in late 2023.
Biddle Carson Developments is affiliated with Paris, Ontario-based management company 214 Carson Co. Inc.
Cole Horncastle, Executive Managing Director for Hamilton International says, “This second development less than one year since opening the Northeast Airport Development…positions Hamilton International as a continued driver of investment, innovation and business growth in the City of Hamilton.”
Scott Biddle, Co-President of Biddle Carson Developments, added that they’re “excited about how this facility will position Hamilton as a key destination in Canada’s aviation landscape, making travel smoother for both business and leisure travelers.”
It is unclear if the airport development is at all related to the massive Hamilton Arena Project, which aims to create a “top-tier music, sports, and live entertainment destination” in the city since high-profile performers almost exclusively travel via private charter.
The project will also reportedly create at least 45 jobs.
A press release from the airport adds that the new facility “will provide a boost to operations at Hamilton International and the local economy, creating highly skilled jobs, attracting complimentary aviation-related operations and enhancing tourism with increased passenger traffic.”
Hamilton International Airport has been in the news a number of other times recently.
There was a $47 million project to allow the airport to handle increased cargo operations by improving and expanding airfield capacity and a 49-year lease extension between the City of Hamilton and Tradeport International Corporation, which has managed the airport since 1996.
Tradeport will be investing $400 million over that time to “develop and expand” the airport, with the City of Hamilton also set to receive guaranteed annual payments, increased revenue sharing, and annual community investments.
Tradeport is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vantage Group, a global airport development company which is involved in airports such as Chicago Midway International and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
