Located within the city, Winnipeg Richardson International Airport operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without any noted airline curfews, giving the airport a competitive advantage over other Canadian Class 1 Airports.
Competitive advantages
- Cost effective movement of goods throughout North America on three major North American rail networks (CN, CP & BNSF)
- Centrally located to major trucking routes, including the Trans-Canada Highway and direct access to the US Interstate Highway System
- A certified trans-shipment point, enabling cargo to be shipped between foreign and Canadian carriers
- A central time zone to maximize coverage into a global network at minimum costs
- A northern hub to the Mid-Continent Trade Corridor, including a direct connection to Mexico
WAA land development
Under a long-term lease obligation with the Government of Canada, Winnipeg Airports Authority is responsible for the management of 3,741 acres. As designated by WAA, there are about 700 greenfield acres of land earmarked for development, spanning over four distinct airport quadrants (East Campus, West Campus, North Campus, and South Campus). Within the noted 700 acres, about 42% is located within the West Campus. This land may provide an excellent opportunity for businesses looking to reposition their operations in close proximity to multiple transportation networks.
Airport development strategic principles
WAA is guided by key strategic development principles that provide a baseline towards its mandate of long-term and sustained growth to the airport campus. The identified principles outline an approach that is both flexible yet connected to its community's needs. These principles leverage the airport's proximity to the global market and include:
- A focus on multi-modal developments, targeting specific economic clusters that will stimulate innovation and trigger sustained growth to the area over time.
- A realignment/repositioning of infrastructure that will help serve the area's growing commercial activity, cultivating both upstream and downstream supportive industries within the economy.
- A unified and collaborative approach to forming external partnerships that enable and streamline all developments on airport campus lands and increase non-aeronautical revenues that get reinvested back into airport infrastructure.
Airport campuses
East Campus
The eastern quadrant has been designated as our Cargo Campus. This campus has a strong existing tenant base of primarily air cargo integrators and aerospace industry leaders. As delineated, this fully serviced parcel of land is approximately 50 acres in total mass, has direct access to the city's downtown, and has been prioritized by the airport for redevelopment. The immediate priority is to rationalize the collection of obsolete and inefficient building footprints and to replace them with high-volume footprints needed to efficiently process future cargo volumes. In addition, the airport will be increasing the amount of airside and groundside pavement needed to compliment the movement of goods within this market sector. WAA's plan is to complete this transformation over the next five years.
South Campus
The southern quadrant mainly consists of business aviation facilities, which are also known as fixed base operators (FBOs). The airport has identified an additional 10 acres of greenfield land for development within this quadrant.
West Campus
The western quadrant is comprised of a large percentage of land that will help to augment growth to the City of Winnipeg and provide a much needed link to the Rural Municipality of Rosser. WAA has modelled an approximate 2.5 million square feet of built footprint set to occur within the 295 acres. Specific large-scale uses have been indentified for this area related to cold chain logistic hubs, agri-business centres, multi-modal distribution centres, and aircraft maintenance operations.
North Campus
The northern quadrant consists of a single tenant that is heavily invested in our community's aviation sector. This anchor tenant has helped shape the North Campus into a development that will be unique to our airport. The total amount of greenfield land within this campus is approximately 395 acres.
Property Management
Property management services are available upon request. Please click here to learn more about what we offer.
Winnipeg Airport Lands Corp.
WAA is also part of a Winnipeg-based real estate consortium called the Winnipeg Airport Lands Corp. This consortium is made up of not only WAA but also other notable land owners within the City of Winnipeg, all actively committed to developing land west of Winnipeg Richardson International Airport. The overall area is approximately 1,700 acres of industrial freehold land that aligns well with the adjacent real estate development initiatives set forth by WAA on their leased lands. Over the years, WALC has worked diligently with industry leaders to develop a precinct plan for the area. This plan has identified additional employment lands within the City of Winnipeg that will see an approximate 10.5 million square feet of built footprint. WALC continues to lead the development of the Airport Area West Structure Plan, which has outlined an understanding of how land will be developed west of the airport.
Contact us
Will Rossall
Director, Real Estate and Land Development
Winnipeg Airports Authority
249-2000 Wellington Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3H 1C2
Phone: 204-987-7862
Email: [email protected]