Air Inuit takes Quebec government to court over maintenance of Nunavik runways

Regional airline Air Inuit is seeking damages from the Kativik Regional Government and the Quebec Ministry of Transportation over what it says is a lack of maintenance of runways in Nunavik. The lawsuit, filed with Quebec's Superior Court and first reported by Le Journal de Montreal, alleges a lack of maintenance of the gravel runways at Nunavik's airports is causing premature wear and tear on the aircraft. Air Inuit is seeking $8.97m in damages for the repairs and replacements it's made to its planes, according to the court documents. The company points the finger at the "state of deterioration and ruin of the landing strips, which are the responsibility of the defendants," the lawsuit reads in French. Air Inuit says the gravel runways in Nunavik are poorly maintained, which creates too much dust. That debris gets caught in the planes' engines and causes damage. Last August, the chair of Air Inuit's board of directors Noah Tayara told Radio-Canada that this dust reduces the lifespan of engines by around 50%. The allegedly poor state of Nunavik's gravel runways was reported more than 174 times to the Kativik Regional Government by Air Inuit teams between 2019 and 2024, according to the lawsuit.<br/>