The president of the company that operates the Allan J. MacEachen Port Hawkesbury Airport says federal investment in an Inverness airport would spell the end of the Port Hawkesbury facility.
David Morgan with Celtic Air Services says he and municipal officials have heard on good authority federal officials are considering funding a new airport for the Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs golf courses in Inverness.
Morgan tells The Hawk there’s no way two airports could survive in such a small area.
“The government building an airport in Inverness would literally bankrupt us,” he says. “It’s terrifying for myself, my family, and my Celtic Air family, the folks that have put the blood, sweat and tears into building this business.”
Morgan says they expect to employ between 12 and 15 people at the Port Hawkesbury facility in 2019.
He says they service a lot of clients.
“We work a lot with the Coast Guard- they have their helicopters that come through all the time,” he says. “The folks doing your whale surveys, geophysical companies, people chartering airplanes, private pilots, (and) training pilots.”
Morgan says they also provide 24 hour-a-day, 365 day-a-year services for EHS Lifeflight.
He says they’ve spent $2.2 million on the business since they took control of management in July 2017.
