New, larger airport terminal nearing completion in Thompson, Man.

Sanuda Ranawake · CBC News

· Posted: May 22, 2025 8:31 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

Thompson residents tin soon expect a caller airdrome terminal, opening earlier the extremity of the year, with amenities including expanded eating options, some earlier and aft security.

At 40,000 quadrate feet, the terminal is overmuch larger than the existing 14,000-square-foot terminal, which was built respective decades ago, and is presently sinking into the ground, according to Curtis Ross, CEO of the Thompson Airport Authority. 

"It'll beryllium bully for the travelling nationalist and the radical coming successful and retired of bluish Manitoba," Ross told CBC News portion touring the caller facility, which is undergoing the last stages of construction, and expected to beryllium turned implicit by the extremity of October. 

He said the existent differentiator for the caller terminal volition beryllium what it offers flyers. 

"It's the comforts, it's the amenities … we person galore edifice locations, galore retail opportunities wrong it. I ever accidental it's much than conscionable an airport," helium said. 

Ross sees the airdrome arsenic being a spot for Thompson residents to travel retired and walk clip at, careless of whether they're flying oregon not. 

"It's astir similar a promenade … I expect radical volition travel retired present for a thrust conscionable for thing different. Sit retired here. It's a beauteous atmosphere," helium said. 

The caller terminal is expected to person 5 edifice locations wrong the building, compared with 1 tiny kiosk astatine the aged terminal, including options past security, which the existent terminal does not offer. 

The caller terminal besides comes with a broadside task for the airport: a caller h2o attraction facility.

"The aged building, you deliberation of it, we had to haul h2o for 50 years there. So portion of this full improvement was the improvement of the h2o attraction plant," Ross said. 

The aged terminal, Ross said, volition inactive beryllium utilized successful a reduced capacity, but volition yet beryllium decommissioned since it keeps sinking contempt galore attempts to hole it. 

"[Transport Canada has] tried galore times to remediate and remediate and it conscionable keeps settling," helium said. 

Ross said the airdrome worked with airlines to make a amended acquisition for everybody involved, which includes 2 wholly abstracted baggage handling processes and rider areas for flights to Winnipeg and flights going to distant communities successful Manitoba, which bash not necessitate flyers to spell done security.

Ethel Timbang, President of Thompson's enclosure of commerce, said archetypal impressions for incoming investors and concern radical is important. She's also hoping added capableness successful the aboriginal mightiness pb to much hose competition, and yet to little summons prices successful the north. 

"I anticipation they could person amended contention and invitation much players, truthful the outgo of the summons volition spell down," she said. 

The caller terminal isn't expected to interaction the terms of airplane tickets, arsenic that determination mostly lies with the airlines, Ross said.