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Edmonton International Airport (YEG) is fast evolving as a regional powerhouse with a reach far beyond its runways. Last year its annual economic output surpassed C$4.9 billion, and its partnerships, “innovation playground” and sustainability initiatives have it flying high.
Back in 2000, airport researcher and analyst Dr. John D. Kasarda recognized that more and more airports were morphing into entities much greater than transport hubs with logistics facilities and commercial infrastructure such as food courts, bars, lounges and duty-free shops. For some, the evolutionary path includes becoming airport cities that are megahubs generating significant commercial development both within and beyond their boundaries.
At their apex, some airports can become what is known as an aerotropolis. Being a nexus of transportation handling people and goods is just one facet; corporations set up headquarters at these huge developments, tens of thousands of people work there, surface connectivity is vast and varied, and tech parks and sporting and entertainment facilities flourish.
In a way, what’s happening with airports mirrors what the Seibu Group did late in the twentieth century, spurring the creation of commercial hubs featuring companies, hotels, shopping centers and other enterprises all clustered near train stations.
One crucial factor that allows YEG to be both expansive and inclusive is land, and plenty of it: in excess of 7,000 acres, or 2,800 hectares, which is twice the territory that Vancouver Airport possesses. “The airport is sitting on this massive real estate development opportunity,” says Edmonton native Myron Keehn, who took over as the CEO of YEG in January 2023 after fifteen years working at the airport. “Our mission is more flights to more places, and driving regional prosperity through aviation and commercial development.”
The airport, which recently rebranded itself as YEG—its global airport code—is a self-funded, not-for-profit corporation that is driving economic prosperity in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region and beyond. And it’s a participant what’s known as Port Alberta, a cooperation between YEG, Edmonton Global—a foreign direct investment and international business development agency—and various other agencies. Port Alberta is where air, rail, road and pipelines converge to form a global cargo and logistics superhub.
To draw in more airlines and service, YEG works hard to make airlines comfortable here. “We know there are costs for airlines when they start a new route. When an airline flies to us, we assign a full-time marketing person to that airline because we know the market quite well,” Keehn explains. “We work with their marketing team to fill their planes.”
Keehn worked for a parking lot company early in his career, which is why he’s highly aware of how valuable the property is. He also worked at Vancouver International Airport for a time before heading back home to Edmonton. “Once aviation is in your blood, you can’t get it out,” he says. “It’s such an exciting and dynamic industry, and has such a large impact on the economy, often in ways that people don’t see.”
He’s been one of the primary drivers behind the plan that could transform YEG into a true aerotropolis.
Farsighted Facilities and Services
Keehn rattles off a list of developments that reinforce the aerotropolis concept. “Our development partners built a 46-acre Premium Outlet shopping center, the world’s first Costco in an airport, a horseracing track and casino, a motorsports park that includes an NHRA dragstrip, a golf course, a gun club, and a greenhouse—once the world’s largest—that’s growing orchids and cucumbers and tomatoes. We’ve got another greenhouse in the works that will be exporting strawberries to Japan.”
Culture is also a typical draw at an aerotropolis. Amsterdam Schiphol has a branch of the Rijksmuseum featuring Dutch master paintings. Visitors to London Heathrow can listen to the London Philharmonic. YEG offers a live music program that ranges from local musicians to school choirs singing carols during the holidays. It also has the Indigenous Interpretive and Retail Centre, which was designed in consultation with Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers to share art and information about Indigenous cultures.
YEG is striving to be an “Airport for Everyone,” and is especially cognizant that people with disabilities may need extra assistance and better accessibility options. Visually impaired travellers can use the AIRA Visual Interpreting app, for example, to navigate the facilities. The airport has also partnered with the world-renowned Sunflower Program, which helps alert airport team members to travellers with hidden disabilities who may require assistance.
In addition, the airport has an ongoing partnership with the Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta to provide therapy animals to calm nervous travellers and others who need a calming influence.
Safeguarding passengers, planes and local wildlife is essential at an airport. How does YEG fend off fateful encounters with birds and what is commonly known as bird strike? “We have a robotic falcon, produced in the Netherlands,” Keehn responds. “Our wildlife partners, Aerium Analytics, saw it in Japan. Instead of us having to think about how to scare birds away, and them perishing, we have our falcon. The birds know there’s a predator out there. We’ve been able to reduce our bird strikes dramatically using this technology, and it’s considered better overall in terms of environmental management practices.”
YEG is also pushing the envelope in drone transport. “That robotic falcon led us into using drones for last-mile delivery. We’re the first in North America to do so. Drone takes off from the airport, carries high-value goods to businesses, sets them on the drone port and then comes back to YEG. They carry about five kilograms. We’re working up to ones that carry five hundred kilograms.”
After that, he adds, the next target is true urban air mobility, like they’re doing in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. “You’re going to be able to fly by drone between the airport and different venues. We’re working with NAV Canada, Drone Delivery Canada and Transport Canada. It’s coming faster than people think, but we want to do everything with safety and security first, of course.” The drone transport program also actively assists with the decarbonization roadmap of the airport by reducing emissions.
Sustainability and Green Shipping Corridors
Keehn reveals that YEG is a leader of the Edmonton Region Hydrogen Hub, using its Airport City Sustainability Campus as a living laboratory and foundation for fostering innovation, new technologies and sustainable operations to drive the decarbonisation of transportation and logistics. Alberta is huge in hydrogen, he adds, producing 60 percent of Canada’s hydrogen, and the world’s largest net zero hydrogen plant is being built in Edmonton.
“Our team believes that sustainability is going to be a key element, and it’s already embedded in everything we do,” he says. “That’s key for the aviation sector as a whole, and as we see what’s occurring in trains and trucking, aviation’s percentage of emissions is going to grow dramatically.”
Keehn and YEG are determined to avoid that, though. “We work very closely with all levels of government,” Keehn points out. “We’re committed to reaching net zero by 2050, with a strong focus on our airport operations emissions to reach net zero by 2050 or sooner.”
YEG has committed to three primary areas of action:
“We’ve also got a partnership going with a European firm, Alpin Sun—after three years of permits and glint and glare studies—to build the world’s largest solar farm at an airport, using 340,000 solar panels,” Keehn says. “We’re just waiting for the final permit to go through.”
Alpin Sun estimates that the solar farm’s annual production of 200,000 MWh during its first year of operation will offset 106,000 tonnes of CO2. Moreover, building what’s known as Airport City Solar will require 120 workers for a year, and up to 250 workers at its peak. Covering 600 acres, at peak capacity it will produce an average of 112 MW of clean electrical power.
YEG is also the only Canadian airport that signed the memorandum of understanding on green shipping corridors over the Pacific, alongside ports on Canada’s west coast as well as Japan, Korea and the United Arab Emirates at the United Nations COP28 conference. The goal is to decarbonise the marine sector, set up at least six green corridors, and still manage to boost the number of ships in transit.
Innovation Playground
After safety and security, Keehn says, the top goal is driving regional economic prosperity.
“We have startup companies that we participate in and help mentor, business incubators and agricultural food incubators. And it’s not just a one-way flow, either. We have goods coming back—like pork, beef, cherries, medical supplies, honey, and a lot of other products going back to Japan. We’re a food breadbasket, a cultural breadbasket and a manufacturing breadbasket, with avenues into artificial intelligence, healthcare, education and more.”
YEG’s Airport City Sustainability Campus hosts various key organisations aligned with the airport’s mission. For example, one of YEG’s incubators—a company called Pegasus that’s run by ex-military personnel—is working on drones that map out optimal routes for fighting wildfires because regular aircraft are not suited for the task. Another venture, Wild + Pine, grows tree seedlings in a bio-prism greenhouse, developing net zero carbon capture through site restoration and reforestation.
Another aspect of the incubator culture here is welcoming new companies, such as a local enterprise called Indigenous Box. They provide a unique corporate gifting service that offers Indigenous entrepreneurs access to global markets. Indigenous Box has also partnered with a neighbouring business, Alternate Route Coffee, which allows for recycling and reuse of materials between their businesses.
“Our Airport City Sustainability Campus is really about the environmental side, using our ecosystem as a trial run for the social side,” Keehn adds. “We want to create an ecosystem in which people can interact with each other that would have never communicated or partnered together otherwise.”
A Close and Connected Community
According to Keehn, the human element in the region is crucial. “The Edmonton Metropolitan Region is a multicultural melting pot, a close-knit community with lots of immigration, which makes the community vibrant. And once you live in Edmonton, you’re always part of the community.”
That translates into a tight and supportive network. “It’s this community of incubators and entrepreneurs, described best by people from various cultures coming together to create something special,” Keehn says. ‘We often hear that people move to the Edmonton Metropolitan Region because in other places it’s hard to get a seat at the table. And in Edmonton, they can get a seat at the table. If they they don’t like the table, they can make their own. Like the Kevin Bacon six degrees of separation principle, but in Edmonton it’s one degree, or maybe two.”
He adds that a little more than one-tenth of the region’s population consists of post-secondary university students—around 136,000 of them. “That’s why we also use YEG as an acronym for ‘young, educated and growing.’ ” As of this time last year, YEG itself supports over 21,000 jobs.
Reflecting all that, the Edmonton Metropolitan Region’s population is expected to nearly double from approximately 1.2 million people in 2014 to approximately 2.2 million people by 2044. “Our city is the youngest and fastest-growing major city in Canada, has the highest disposable income in the country, and is also its most affordable city,” Keehn reports. “The pay is very high and taxes are very low.”
Japan Connections
YEG signed memoranda of understanding in April 2022 for partnerships with several Japanese companies involved in green hydrogen technology and sustainable aviation fuels. They include:
JOIN (Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development, a Japanese government entity)
JOIN is involved in transportation, urban development and airport operations that include future mobility, renewable energy, hydrogen, autonomous systems and cargo logistics development within YEG’s International Cargo Hub and Airport City Sustainability Campus, helping Japanese firms explore technology solutions that drive international business.
Mitsui
Mitsui uses YEG as a pilot program for its technologies designed to decarbonise transportation by piloting green and hydrogen technologies to explore opportunities in cargo and logistics, agribusiness, food and retail distribution.
Letenda-Mitsui
Piloting, demonstrating and launching Letenda hydrogen buses in North America, with advanced manufacturing and assembly at YEG, establishing a Hydrogen Centre of Excellence to service parts distribution for Western Canada.
Toyota Canada
Launching hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (Toyota Mirai) for airport mobility, rental cars, taxis and ride sharing, with the goal of decarbonising transportation and creating a scalable hydrogen hub model.
“It’s a chance for them to showcase their vehicles and you obviously can make great use of them in the practical sense,” Keehn notes. “We’re not only helping them out by showing people what can be done, we’re also taking advantage of this to walk the walk.” This is aligned with the airport net zero commitment, putting in place partnerships and concrete initiatives to reach this goal.
That includes a dual-fuel diesel hydrogen bus, “with an external tank for hydrogen on your vehicle that actually allows you to use your existing internal combustion engine,” he says. “Japanese companies are looking at Edmonton as a place to further invest.”
Intent on widening its contacts in Japan and getting insights into the market, YEG recently became a corporate member of the CCCJ. There are obviously lessons to be learned from this multifaceted venture that’s clearly on the rise, and Myron Keehn is ready to share.
