Officials from the Medicine Hat Regional Airport are boasting a significant jump in takeoffs and landings in 2025, thanks in part because of the Prairie Rose Pilot Academy.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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It has been a year of growth for Medicine Hat Regional Airport, thanks in no small part to Prairie Rose Public Schools.
At a meeting of the city’s infrastructure and development committee Thursday, airport manager Logan Boyd provided an update on air traffic activity that showcased significant growth.
The year-to-date trend for takeoffs and landings is 48 per cent higher than in 2024. Activity for 2025 is projected to surpass 38,000. Boyd says that when he arrived at the airport 11 years ago, the number was around 23,000.
Boyd says the drastic jump makes Medicine Hat one of Canada’s fastest growing airports with respect to air traffic activity this year.
Boyd attributes a significant part of that growth to the Dave Rozdeba South Alberta Flight Academy.
The flight academy is a high school program that allows students to earn their private pilot’s licence along with their high school diploma in partnership with Prairie Rose Public Schools, Eagle Butte High School and Super T Aviation.
“Super T is proud and privileged to be part of this unique-in-Canada program, which is a collaboration between private enterprise and a public school division,” said Terri Super, owner of Super T Aviation.
“Students in this program, whether they are learning to fly an airplane or learning to build an airplane, are gaining confidence and abilities through these activities that other high school students can only dream of.”
Super T Aviation is a family-owned, Medicine Hat-based flight school.
Students enrolled in the flight academy pay just under $15,000 for three years of training, a major discount on an education that can cost between $20,000 and $30,000 at a typical flight school.
Boyd says airport operations staff have had to adjust to new demands on maintenance and coordination, but that the growth is encouraging.
