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Pilots who fly their ultralight planes out of a small Surrey airpark were stunned to learn they have two weeks to find another hangar for their planes after its owner announced that he was closing it down.

The owner of the land on which the small private airport sits says he wants to grow blueberries instead because the airpark’s rent doesn’t even cover his municipal taxes.

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There have been a handful of other small private airstrips closing recently, according to an AVCanada forum, and recreational pilots fear flying will be out of reach for all except the wealthy.

The King George Airpark has been given an order to vacate the land by April 26, said Roy Kerwood, who rents hangar space for $150 a month.

“I would love to stay here,” he said Tuesday on a break from a flying lesson at the airpark’s flying school on King George Highway near Colebrook Road.

But Kerwood, like the 30 or so other pilots who also rent space there, will have to find another spot for his two-seater plane that he restored and painted after hauling it across the country from Quebec.He’s been quoted $450 a month at a bigger airport and is considering going as far afield as Sechelt, but hasn’t found a place yet.