A potentially re-elected Conservative government has promised upgrades to Yukon airports in the amount of $30 million.

“Yes, we are going to pave the Dawson City airport runway,” Ryan Leef, the Yukon’s Conservative federal election candidate, told reporters this morning in Whitehorse.

The announcement was made at the Air North hangar.

Yukon Senator Dan Lang and representatives of Air North, including president Joe Sparling and marketing director Debra Ryan, were in attendance.

The paving job would cost about $8 million, Leef said.

“Gravel operations are very hard on aircraft,” Sparling said.

Damage to an aircraft’s propeller by the manufacturer ATR is worth about $70,000, he added.

“That type of damage, you don’t see on paved runways.”

Air North hopes to have two ATR aircraft in operation by next summer. These more modern airplanes are faster and burn less fuel, Sparling said – a win-win situation for offering better service without higher costs.

Simply put, a paved runway would enable Air North to bring in better aircraft, to transport more people and boost the tourism sector in the territory.

“An easy illustration of that is on our Holland America tour program. Using our gravel-capable aircraft operating on a gravel runway, we can haul about 80 passengers out of Dawson,” Sparling said.

Now in its second year partnered with Air North, the Holland America tour program transported about 15,000 tourists this year.

The ATR aircraft, on a paved runway, could transport 120 people – significantly lowering the cost of travel per person, assuming the operating costs of the two different aircraft are similar.

“The more affordable you make the travel, the more likely people will buy it,” Sparling said.

The remaining $22 million in the budget could be put toward other airport infrastructure improvements.

Possibilities include paving the runway in Old Crow, constructing a new airport terminal in Dawson or possibly relocating the Dawson airport, Sparling said. It’s about 16 kilometres from the town itself.

What the balance will be spent on would depend on the proponent’s final application, Leef said.

The chief proponent is currently Chief Isaac Inc., an independent economic development arm of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation, in a partnership with Air North.

“If (the Yukon government) decided they wanted to be an applicant in this ... that’s not an issue of concern for the federal government,” Leef said.

The Yukon government, however, has seen the issue of Dawson’s gravel runway brought up in the past, and does not have concrete plans to fund the paving – as of yet.

In 2014, former tourism minister Mike Nixon had put forth a motion to strengthen the tourism sector, which included considering the prospect of asphalt at Dawson’s airport.

Klondike MLA Sandy Silver criticized the lack of action on the plan in the past spring’s session in legislature.

“A year later, there is no money in the budget to pave the Dawson runway and there is no money in next year’s forecast either,” Silver said in a statement at the end of the session.

“It’s very disappointing to see the runway plans have been put on the back burner even though industry sees potential for market growth.”

With less than a week before Yukoners head to the polls to cast their federal election ballots, Lang and Leef took the opportunity at the announcement to remind voters of the importance of an effective member of Parliament.

Lang touted Leef’s capabilities as MP, showcased through the amount of infrastructure the Yukon has seen built in the last four years.

“That doesn’t happen by accident,” Lang said.

“That happens by your MP going to work every day.”

The Conservative incumbent mentioned the federal government’s September announcements to build a permanent reserve unit in the Yukon for the Canadian Armed Forces, a year-round cadet facility and expand the Junior Ranger program.

“Only our Conservative government has made Yukon-specific commitments,” Leef said.

The $30 million would simply assist the territory in furthering its pleasurable, reliable and affordable air travel, Leef said.

“It’s not just about the warm cookies that we love so much,” he said,

“Air North has created 250 jobs right here in the Yukon.”