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"More interesting together, than apart"

Regional alliance promotes airport collaboration rather than competition among communities

Aug 7, 2026 | 10:08 AM

The Southwest Alberta Regional Alliance, also known in short as Alberta Southwest, is forming a partnership with four local governments and its airports in the region. 

The facilities in Cardston County, the MD of Pincher Creek, MD of Willow Creek, and Town of Fort Macleod, are each unique in their own way. 

The idea is to collaborate, rather than compete, and bring out each of the different features the airports provide.

In the case of Pincher Creek, for example, it has a 6,600 foot strip with landing lights that already has an air tanker base, and is used for air ambulance transfers. 

The Willow Creek airport, situated in the Claresholm area, on the other hand, has a growing flight training component with room for expansion. 

Alberta Southwest Director of Investment Development, Sean Miles, calls the assets ‘real’ and are more interesting together, than apart. 

The collaboration comes from a aerospace study that was completed in Febuary of this year that took into account investment attraction and regional resilience.