KD Air optimistic on security

One of the co-owners of Qualicum Beach short haul carrier KD Air is confident her company will dodge the Olympic security bullet after all.

Diana Banke said Friday she and husband Lars are set to travel to Victoria on Wednesday for a meeting with minister of state for the Olympics Mary McNeil, to talk about their Olympic security concerns.

“We are going to win, I just know it,” Banke said. “We will have security in Qualicum Beach.”

The KD Air owners have expressed deep concerns about Olympic security provisions that call for carriers from airports without security to make an interim stop at a designated airport with security prior to flying on to Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics.

The Bankes have been pushing to have security in place in Qualicum Beach prior to the Games, in order to avoid the lengthy and costly delays.

Banke said she has been working closely with Alberni-Pacific Rim MLA Scott Fraser on the issue and she praised him for his work on the file.

“Scott Fraser has worked extremely hard for us,” she said. “I think the world of that guy.”

Fraser said he knows the Bankes, as Qualicum Beach residents, don’t really come under his purvue, but he stressed he won’t ever turn someone down if they ask him for help and there’s something he feels he can do.

“If they come to me for help because they can’t get it from their MLA I will do what I can,” he said.

“I respect our boundaries, but this affects the entire region. Dianne and Lars have a company that, if its harmed by the Olympics, also harms the entire region — and my constituents.”

Fraser said he’s hopeful Wednesday’s meeting will result in some sort of breakthrough.

“We will meet with the minister to try to get some common sense brought into play to protect companies like KD Air so they are not collateral damage,” he said.

“There are things that can happen to make this a lot less painful for companies like KD Air.”

+More Business Headlines
<Back to Mobile Edition