Albt gov's last airplane has been sold, province says
原始发布日期： 2016-01-13 发布者：李方字变大 字变小
Exclusive: Alberta government's last airplane has been sold, province says
UPLOADED BY: Mariam Ibrahim ::: EMAIL: mibrahim:: PHONE: 780-429-5324 ::: CREDIT: Alberta Government ::: CAPTION: A Dash-8 plane is shown in the Alberta government handout photo. Premier Jim Prentice announced Tuesday he will sell the provincial fleet of four aircraft. / Edmonton JournalThe province on Tuesday finalized the sale of its last remaining airplane, a 1985 DeHavilland Dash-8, Service Alberta Minister Danielle Larivee told the Journal. “It was a little complicated and took a while to bring it to completion, but certainly we supported the decision of the previous government to sell the fleet,” said Larivee, whose ministry is responsible for overseeing the sale of public resources. The Dash-8 was listed at a reserve price of $4.9 million, but Larivee would only say it sold for “slightly more” than asking. She said she could not reveal the identity of the winning bidder. “Albertans got great value for the sale of the plane and we worked really hard to ensure that,” she said. Then premier Jim Prentice made selling the heavily scrutinized fleet his first task after taking office in September 2014. Last February, the government announced the sale of three Beechcraft King Airs to Fargo Jet Centre Inc. for $6.1 million — $5 million lower than their book value. But the final plane, the 36-seat Dash-8, remained unsold. Since then it has been grounded in a hangar at the Edmonton International Airport at a cost of roughly $3,565 monthly, including $200 in fuel, $2,040 for a weekly startup and $1,325 for insurance — on top of the undisclosed costs of the hangar’s lease. With the Dash-8 sold, the government’s infrastructure department will market the hangar for sublease. Alberta had operated an air fleet since the 1970s, but the aircraft were common targets for critics who said the former Progressive Conservative government misused the planes for partisan purposes. The planes again drew controversy in recent years following a special report from Alberta auditor general Merwan Saher that found former premier Alison Redford misused the planes for personal benefit, sometimes booking blocks of fake passengers on flights to ensure she could travel alone with her closest aides. Saher’s audit concluded the government could save $4 million annually by using commercial, charter and ground transportation instead. Alberta spent roughly $900,000 on air travel in 2015 — the first full year without the fleet. That’s about $5 million less than was spent on air travel in 2014. mibrahim@postmedia.com twitter.com/mariamdena Calgary Herald |