The City of Owen Sound’s sale of the Billy Bishop Regional Airport on Highway 26 has officially closed.
Owen Sound City Manager Tim Simmonds says the transaction closed as scheduled on Friday, Dec. 10 without issue under terms previously disclosed in staff reports and approved by council.
The city received $1.5-million from the buyer Clayton Smith for the transfer of all assets at the airport property including current agreements with hangar leases and Owen Sound Flight Services.
“All aspects, including operations, of the airport are now with the new owner,” Simmonds says in an email.
Smith is a member of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association who has experience in airport ownership and operations. He also owns Lake St. John Airport and Float Plane Base in Orillia and Georgian Bay Airways, a float plane service in Parry Sound.
The new owner expressed a desire to inject capital into the Billy Bishop Regional Airport and “foster an atmosphere of commerce” during the sale process.
City council approved the sale agreement for the airport on Nov. 1.
The Billy Bishop Regional Airport was built in 1991 and had operated as a city-owned asset since 1993.
