Aviation Partnership with North Star Air and First Nations
THUNDER BAY – ABORIGINAL BUSINESS – The importance of dependable air transport for Northern Ontario communities as a key economic and socio-economic driver was front and centre today as North Star Air Limited signed a strategic business partnership with Muskrat Dam First Nation and Sachigo Lake First Nation.
North Star Air Ltd. (North Star Air) is one of the leading Northern Ontario air service providers.
Muskrat Dam First Nation (Muskrat Dam) and Sachigo Lake First Nation (Sachigo Lake) announced today they signed a strategic business partnership with North Star Air to increase air transportation services to their communities.
This agreement will benefit both the communities at large in terms of new socio-economic development opportunities, investments back to the community and reduce the security of supply risks as well as individuals will now have more choices for air passenger services. The introduction of more competition is ultimately good for the consumers.
Air transportation services are a lifeline to the Northern communities bringing them health care, food, mail, fuel, building supplies, other perishable goods, air passenger services and air ambulance services including other air transport services. For many northern communities, air transportation is the only direct means of travel and improving year-round service and optimizing the service levels for the region is of great value.
Connecting communities between urban airports and accessibility to infrastructure makes economic sense. Collectively, North Star Air and its alliance company Cargo North can service all the transportation requirements of the northern communities ranging from charter to passenger, from fuel to freight services.
To ensure Cargo North’s ability to continually deliver services the growing freight demand and urgent requests, they have made significant investments with their recent acquisition of two Basler Turbo 67 aircrafts to add to their overall modernized fleets. Combining their passion to deliver capacity and capitalizing on efficiencies translates into significant cost savings for all their customers.
“Muskrat Dam is encouraged in moving forward with our partner North Star Air as we continue to build our strategic collaborative economic initiatives” said Chief Gordon Beardy.
“Sachigo Lake is about realizing our vision to continue to create local and collaborative economic opportunities. Partnering up with North Star Air is an example that this type of business relationship that offers more airline, transport and freight options benefits the community and contributes to realizing our vision” said Chief Alvin Beardy.
“Connecting with the north is key to deliver the right service” stated Frank Kelner CEO of North Star Air, Cargo North and Northern Aviation Fuels. “We’ve been serving Muskrat Dam and Sachigo Lake for 25 years in various capacities and today we are proud to be strengthening our relationship and commitment through this agreement”.
