The Alberta government sold its last airplane a year ago, but it’s still paying a 10-year lease on an empty air hangar at Edmonton International Airport that started in 2013.
Due to a glut in the market, Alberta Transportation has had no luck in subleasing a 20,200 sq. ft hangar that used to house the government’s fleet of four planes.
“The market is currently depressed for air hangar space with a number of competing facilities vacant and available,” Aileen Machell, press secretary for Transportation Minister Brian Mason, said in an email.
“Efforts to sublet the space have not resulted in any offers to date as there is very little new demand for hangars.”
The lease started in September 2013 and ends on Aug. 31, 2023.
Machell would not say how much the government is paying each month, as the amount is covered under provincial privacy laws as confidential information that could hurt the business interests of a third party.
Four planes sold
According to the posting on the Alberta Transportation website, the space also includes 1,482 sq. ft. of “high-quality shop, office, crew & meeting space.”
The hangar is owned by Airside Properties Ltd.
The decision to sell the government’s fleet of planes was one of the first actions taken by Jim Prentice when he became Premier of Alberta in September 2014.
The government is leasing the hangar at Edmonton International Airport until August 2013. (Government of Alberta )
Two months earlier, Alberta auditor general Merwan Saher released a report that slammed former Premier Alison Redford over her use of government aircraft.
The report found false passengers were booked on the flights to allow Redford and her entourage to fly alone.
Saher also found Redford gained a “personal benefit” by taking her daughter on dozens of government flights.
Three of the four planes were sold by February 2015. The final plane sold in January 2016.