Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport is an
airport of entry located in
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. It is part of the
National Airports System, and is owned and operated by the
Government of Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
.
The airport was renamed in honour of longtime Yukon Member of Parliament
Erik Nielsen on December 15, 2008. The terminal handled 294,000 passengers in 2012, representing a 94% increase in passenger traffic since 2002. By 2017, this number had risen to 366,000.
Air North is based in Whitehorse.
History
Development
In spring 1920, preparation for the arrival of the US Army Black Wolf Squadron (4 US DeHavilland DH-4s) began on Cyr's wood lot on the hill above Whitehorse. The area was cleared for a landing strip. This landing strip was used by Treadwell Mining and Yukon Airways and Exploration Co. in the mid/late 1920s.
Expanded between 1940 and 1941 by the federal Department of Transport, it was transferred to the
Royal Canadian Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
(RCAF) in 1942 as part of the Northwest Staging Route under the name of
RCAF Station Whitehorse
{{Location map, Canada, label=RCAF Station Whitehorse
, marksize=6, mark=Red_pog.svg
, lat_dir=N, lat_deg=60, lat_min=42, lat_sec=34
, lon_dir=W, lon_deg=135, lon_min=04, lon_sec=32
, position=width=300, float=right
, caption=Location of RCAF Stati ...
. It was closed in 1968 and the airfield resumed its status as a civilian airport.
The airport is classified as an
airport of entry by
Nav Canada and is staffed by the
Canada Border Services Agency
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; french: Agence des services frontaliers du Canada, ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and cu ...
(CBSA). CBSA officers at this airport can handle aircraft with no more than 50 passengers; however, they can handle up to 225 if the aircraft is unloaded in stages.
The airport has two
fixed-base operator
A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, ...
s for fuel, limited aircraft maintenance facilities. The
control tower
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...
operates from 7 a.m. – 9 p.m.
local time, and the Whitehorse
Flight Service Station
A flight service station (FSS) is an air traffic facility that provides information and services to aircraft pilots before, during, and after flights, but unlike air traffic control (ATC), is not responsible for giving instructions or clearances or ...
provides Airport Advisory Service during the remaining hours.
ARFF services are also provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
In addition to scheduled commercial service, numerous small
air charter operators and
bush pilot
Bush flying refers to aircraft operations carried out in the bush. Bush flying involves operations in rough terrain where there are often no prepared landing strips or runways, frequently necessitating that bush planes be equipped with abnormally ...
s use the airport and it serves as a major base for
water bombers used in
forest fire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...
fighting operations. The airport also controls
Whitehorse Water Aerodrome
Whitehorse Water Aerodrome is located on Schwatka Lake, south of Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada.
The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency. CBSA officers at this airport can h ...
, a
float plane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, m ...
base on
Schwatka Lake
Schwatka Lake is a reservoir created by the damming of the Yukon River in Whitehorse, Yukon, completed in 1958. The dam provides electrical power generation and is operated by the Yukon Energy Corporation. The White Horse Rapids, which gave the ...
.
The airport gained a nonstop transatlantic flight in May 1998, when an
Air Transat
Air Transat is a Canadian airline based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1986, it is the country's third-largest airline behind Air Canada and WestJet, operating scheduled and charter flights serving 60 destinations in 25 countries. Air Transa ...
Lockheed L-1011 landed from
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
with German tourists aboard. By the summer of 2000, three airlines were flying between Whitehorse and Europe;
Condor and
Balair had inaugurated services to Frankfurt and
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
, respectively. However, Air Transat's route to Germany did not return after this season.
During the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
, two aircraft approaching the United States from Asia were diverted to Whitehorse as part of
Operation Yellow Ribbon
Operation Yellow Ribbon (french: Opération ruban jaune) was commenced by Canada to handle the diversion of civilian airline flights in response to the September 11 attacks in 2001 on the United States. Canada's goal was to ensure that potential ...
. One of these flights, a
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
operating as
Korean Air Flight 85
On September 11, 2001, Korean Air Flight 085 (originating from Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea) was en-route to Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska, when information about the September 11 attacks was relaye ...
, was feared to be
hijacked
Hijacking may refer to:
Common usage
Computing and technology
* Bluejacking, the unsolicited transmission of data via Bluetooth
* Brandjacking, the unauthorized use of a company's brand
* Browser hijacking
* Clickjacking (including ''like ...
; this was not the case as the jumbo jet was low on fuel. Many of the buildings in the downtown area near the airport were evacuated as a precaution. Those who witnessed the landing by the Korean Air 747 observed the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
(RCMP) order the flight crew out at gunpoint. Meanwhile, the economic impact of the attacks contributed to Balair's collapse, so the link to Switzerland ended.
The airport's parking lot is graced by an old
Canadian Pacific Air Lines
Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986. Headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, it served domestic Canadian a ...
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner
manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II.
It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...
on a pedestal that serves as a
weather vane
A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...
.
Historical airline service
Commencing in the early 1940s, scheduled passenger service was operated by
Canadian Pacific Air Lines
Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986. Headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, it served domestic Canadian a ...
. Canadian Pacific and its successor,
CP Air, provided service to
Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
;
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta;
Prince George, British Columbia
Prince George is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, with a population of 74,004 in the metropolitan area. It is often called the province's "northern capital" or sometimes the "spruce capital" because it is the hub city for ...
;
Fort St. John, British Columbia
Fort St. John is a city located in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The most populous municipality in the Peace River Regional District, the city encompasses a total area of about with 20,155 residents recorded in the 2016 Census. Located ...
;
Fort Nelson, British Columbia and
Watson Lake, Yukon. Other destinations in the
Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
as well as
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...
were also served by Canadian Pacific during the mid-1940s with these flights subsequently being discontinued. CP Air served Whitehorse during the 1970s with
Boeing 737-200 jetliners with direct, no change of plane flights to all of the above named destinations in Canada. Other Canadian Pacific flights into the airport over the years were earlier operated with such twin engine prop aircraft as the
Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar
The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar is a passenger transport aircraft of the World War II era.
Design and development
Sales of the 10–14 passenger Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra, which first flew in 1937, had proved disappointing, despite the air ...
,
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner
manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II.
It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...
,
Convair 240, and also with larger, four engine
Douglas DC-4
The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s ...
and
DC-6
The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with th ...
B prop aircraft as well as
Bristol Britannia
The Bristol Type 175 Britannia is a retired British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the Commonwealth. During development two prototypes were lost and the turboprop engines proved sus ...
turboprops. CP Air was subsequently acquired by
Pacific Western Airlines with the combined air carriers then operating as
Canadian Airlines International which in turn continued to serve Whitehorse with Boeing 737 jet service into the 1990s before this air carrier was acquired by
Air Canada in 2000. Pacific Western had previously served the airport with nonstop Boeing 737-200 jet service to Edmonton, Prince George (with this flight continuing on to Vancouver) and
Yellowknife, NWT
Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the ...
(with this flight continuing on to
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
) operated at various times during the early and mid 1980s. During the mid and late 1970s, the airport was also served by Winnipeg-based
Transair (Canada) which operated
Boeing 737-200 and
Fokker F28 twin jet service direct to Winnipeg several days a week via intermediate stops at Yellowknife and
Churchill, Manitoba
Churchill is a town in northern Manitoba, Canada, on the west shore of Hudson Bay, roughly from the Manitoba–Nunavut border. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname ...
. Transair was also subsequently acquired by Pacific Western Airlines. Another air carrier which served Whitehorse during the early and mid 1970s was International Jetair operating nonstop flights to
Inuvik
Inuvik (''place of man'') is the only town in the Inuvik Region, and the third largest community in Canada's Northwest Territories. Located in what is sometimes called the Beaufort Delta Region, it serves as its administrative and service cen ...
on the weekdays with continuing one stop service several days a week to
Fort Nelson Fort Nelson may refer to:
Canada
*Fort Nelson, British Columbia, a town
*Fort Nelson River, British Columbia
* Fort Nelson (Manitoba) (1670–1713), an early fur trading post at the mouth of the Nelson River and the first headquarters of the Hudson ...
flown with
Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprop aircraft.
U.S.-based
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...
(
Pan Am
Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...
) served Whitehorse during the early 1960s as part of a route linking Seattle with Alaska. Pan Am operated
Douglas DC-4
The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s ...
followed by
Douglas DC-6B
The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with ...
propliners into the airport on a routing of Seattle-Ketchikan-Juneau-Whitehorse-Fairbanks-Galena-Nome.
Several Alaska-based airlines also served Whitehorse in the past. During the 1970s,
Wien Air Alaska operated
Boeing 737-200 jetliners as well as
Fairchild F-27
The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the standa ...
turboprops into the airport with Anchorage-Fairbanks-Whitehorse-Juneau routings.
Era Aviation
Era Aviation was a fixed wing airline as well as a commercial helicopter operation based in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. It operated a network of scheduled fixed wing passenger services from Anchorage as well as from Bethel, AK on behalf of ...
operated
Convair 580 turboprop aircraft nonstop between Anchorage and Whitehorse during the 1980s.
Facilities
The airport has its own fire department with three crash tenders and one supervisor vehicle based at a fire station on the airport grounds.
Airlines and destinations
See also
*
Whitehorse/Cousins Airport
References
External links
Government of Yukon - Whitehorse International AirportPage about this airporton
COPA's ''Places to Fly'' airport directory
{{authority control
Certified airports in Yukon
Transport in Whitehorse
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command in Alaska
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Canada
National Airports System
Airports established in 1941
1941 establishments in Canada