Stephenville airport could be on final approach to Dymond deal

A decision on the possible sale of the Stephenville airport may be imminent.

That news broke at a town council meeting Thursday night, as councillors voted to give the airport another $50,000 grant to keep the operation running.

Coun. Lenny Tiller cast the sole dissenting vote in opposition to the contribution.

He suggested that the amount of the grant could be cut — at least for now — with a possible sale looming.

"It has been said publicly by the purchaser that we could be a day or so away from a deal here," Tiller said during the public meeting.

The most recent $50,000 grant follows similar contributions by council to the airport in March and May.

Mayor Tom Rose spoke in favour of the grant, and shed a little more light on what could happen in the near future.

"They are, from what I understand, just days away. And we have Mr. Carl Dymond arriving here on Monday," Rose said.

"There's a board meeting on Tuesday that's taking place that could be a very significant meeting, with a vote that could take place."

Last September, Dymond announced a framework agreement to acquire the airport from the local authority.

He said his plans include the creation of thousands of jobs, and an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Dymond has said that he will manufacture massive cargo drones, and facilitate the return of scheduled passenger service. 

But the deal didn't close by the initial deadline at the end of December 2021 — about 5-½ months ago — and there has been mostly radio silence about the status of talks since then.

Dymond has declined a number of requests to speak with CBC News in recent months. Stephenville Airport Corporation officials haven't granted interviews either.