The federal transport minister was in Windsor Wednesday — just one day after announcing the city's airport was left off the list of those which can begin international flights at the end of the month.
Omar Alghabra met with a number of local officials including Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens.
Dilkens says everyone around the table wanted answers.
"He certainly walked into a bit of a lion's den on the airport topic," says Dilkens. "The interesting part was that it wasn't just me, it was almost everyone around the table somehow brought the airport up and the fact that it's not open into their remarks with the minister."
He says he made the region's concerns clear.
"Not having the airport open for international traffic when they've opened eight other airports certainly was a bit of a kick in the gut, " he says. "I said that directly to the minister today, that it felt like Windsor got kicked in the gut."
Dilkens adds, the minister agreed getting Windsor's airport fully operational is a priority.
"There are lots of things going on in his space, " says Dilkens. "He heard us, he acknowledged it and said he wants to get it open as soon as possible and we need him to go back and look at how we can get Windsor added to the list as soon as possible."
Alghabra told those at the meeting the government is following advice from the Public Health Agency of Canada on which airports can safely handle international flights and the situation is being evaluated on a regular basis.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Windsor's airport had a record year in 2019 with more than 380,000 passengers.
— with files from CTV Windsor's Chris Campbell
Windsor airport hot topic as federal transport minister visits the region - AM800 (iHeartRadio)
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