Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA), also called Blatchford Field as well as Edmonton Municipal Airport, was an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

within the city of

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 ...

, in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. It was bordered by

Yellowhead Trail Yellowhead Trail is a expressway segment of the Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16) in northern Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It carries a significant amount of truck traffic to and from the industrial areas of north Edmonton and serves as a key co ...

to the north, Kingsway to the south, 121 Street to the west, and the

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is a applied sciences institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. NAIT provides careers programs in applied research, technical training, applied education, and learning designed to meet the dema ...

(NAIT) and Jefferson armouries to the east. It encompassed approximately of land just north of the city centre of Edmonton. The airport was originally called Blatchford Field, named for former mayor Kenneth Alexander Blatchford. It later was known as the Edmonton Municipal Airport, then as Edmonton Industrial Airport, and then Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA), finally ending as Blatchford Field at Edmonton City Centre Airport. Over the years, the three letter code "YXD" continued to be used for the airport by all of the airlines serving the airfield. The airport was closed in November 2013, and , the land is being redeveloped by the City of Edmonton as a planned community called Blatchford.

Early history

The airport has a rich

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

history, being the first licensed airfield in Canada (1926). Characters such as

Wop May Wilfrid Reid "Wop" May, (March 20, 1896 – June 21, 1952) was a Canadian flying ace in the First World War and a leading post-war aviator. He was the final Allied pilot to be pursued by Manfred von Richthofen before the German ace was shot down ...

, a World War I fighter ace and bush pilot, helped pioneer aviation in Alberta and

Northern Canada Northern Canada, colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada#Territories, territor ...

, further solidifying Blatchford Field as the "Gateway to the North". Along with May, the Mayor of Edmonton,

Kenny Blatchford Kenneth Alexander Blatchford (March 5, 1882 – April 20, 1933) was a Canadian politician who served as both mayor of Edmonton, Alberta and a member of the House of Commons of Canada. Early life Kenny Blatchford was born in Minnedosa, Manito ...

, had played a key role in establishing the airport in 1927. Blatchford's son,

Howard Peter Blatchford Wing Commander Howard Peter "Cowboy" Blatchford, DFC (25 February 1912 – 3 May 1943) was a flying ace, who achieved the first Canadian victory in World War II. Blatchford was born in Edmonton, Alberta on 25 February 1912, and enlisted in th ...

, became a fighter ace in WWII.

Wiley Post Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935) was a famed American aviator during the interwar period and the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high-altitude flying, Post helped develop one ...

landed at the airport during both of his circumnavigations.

RCAF Station Edmonton

The airport served as a military airbase during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when it was a major stop-over on the

Northwest Staging Route The Northwest Staging Route was a series of airstrips, airport and radio ranging stations built in Alberta, British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska during World War II. It extended into the Soviet Union as the ALSIB (ALaska-SIBerian air road). Ori ...

and hosted two

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zea ...

schools. No. 2 Air Observer School (AOS), operated by Canadian Airways and Canadian Pacific Airlines, opened at RCAF Station Edmonton on August 5, 1940. Later that year, on November 11, 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) established No. 16 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS), operated by the Edmonton Flying Club; this school was closed on July 17, 1942, to allow for an expansion of No. 2 Air Observer School. Upon winding down of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, No. 2 AOS was closed on July 14, 1944. On 1 October 1955, all RCAF Squadrons and support units were transferred to the "new"

RCAF Station Namao CFB Edmonton (also called 3rd Canadian Division Support Base Edmonton) is a Canadian Forces base located in Sturgeon County adjacent to the City of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. It is also known as Edmonton Garrison or "Steele Barracks". His ...

. Blatchford Field was turned over to the Edmonton municipal government and became the commercial Edmonton City Centre (Blatchford Field) Airport.RCAF Air Base
Alberta Online Encyclopedia - Alberta's Aviation Heritage. Retrieved: 2011-03-01 During this period, in about 1942, the aerodrome was listed at with a Var. 25 degrees E and elevation of . The facility was listed as being a Department of Transport and RCAF Aerodrome and had three runways, listed as follows:

Weather

weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...

was established in 1937. Over the years since then, its site witnessed increasing influence by the

urban heat island An urban heat island (UHI) is an urban or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparen ...

effect. By the mid-1970s, "Edmonton Municipal A." (as it was listed in the ''Monthly Record of Meteorological Observations in Canada'') was regularly recording some of the longest frost-free periods in the

Prairie Provinces The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

, with the first fall frost often not coming before October.

Scheduled passenger service

1950s and 1960s

In 1950, the airport was a stop on an international route operated by

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines ...

between the U.S. and Asia. According to the September 24, 1950, Northwest Airlines system timetable, the air carrier was operating

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 ...

propliner service on a routing of New York City - Washington, D.C. - Chicago - Minneapolis/St. Paul - Edmonton - Anchorage - Tokyo four days a week with continuing service to Okinawa and Manila or Taipei depending on the day of the week. By the late 1950s, three Canadian-based airlines were providing primary scheduled passenger air service at the airport: major air carriers

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 ...

(which would become

CP Air 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 ...

) and

Trans-Canada Air Lines Trans-Canada Air Lines (also known as TCA in English, and Trans-Canada in French) was a Canadian airline that operated as the country's flag carrier, with corporate headquarters in Montreal, Quebec. Its first president was Gordon Roy McGrego ...

(TCA, which would become

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...

) as well as regional air carrier

Pacific Western Airlines Pacific Western Airlines Ltd (PWA) was an airline that operated scheduled flights throughout western Canada and charter services around the world from the 1950s through the 1980s. It was headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Ri ...

(PWA). In 1959, Canadian Pacific was operating international service to Europe with four nonstop flights a week flown with

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 ...

"Empress" propliners between Edmonton and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

with these flights originating and terminating in

Vancouver 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 ...

and was also operating local domestic service with

Convair 240 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inro ...

prop aircraft to

Grande Prairie, Alberta Grande Prairie is a city in northwest Alberta, Canada within the southern portion of an area known as Peace River Country. It is located at the intersection of Highway 43 (part of the CANAMEX Corridor) and Highway 40 (the Bighorn Highway), ...

and

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 ...

. A year earlier in 1958, Trans-Canada was flying

Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an American aircraft, a member of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. The L-1049 was Lockheed's response to the successful Douglas DC-6 airliner, first flying in 1950. The aircraft was also produc ...

and Canadair North Star (a Canadian produced version of the

) propliners in addition to

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Visc ...

turboprops on nonstop services to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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 ...

and

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

as well as direct, no change of plane flights to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. According to the June 1, 1958, Trans-Canada Air Lines system timetable, the air carrier was also operating five nonstop departures a day to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

with Viscount propjets. Pacific Western was operating regional services from the airport in 1959 with Curtiss C-46 and

prop aircraft to a number of Canadian destinations located north of Edmonton including Fort McMurray, Fort Smith, Fort Resolution, Fort Vermilion, Hay River, Inuvik, Norman Wells, Peace River, Uranium City, and Yellowknife. By 1964, Pacific Western had expanded its domestic service from the airport with the addition of regional flights to Cambridge Bay, Coppermine, Dawson Creek, Fort Simpson and Wrigley as well as to the

Resolute Bay Airport Resolute Bay Airport is located at Resolute, Nunavut, Canada, and is operated by the government of Nunavut. It is one of the northernmost airfields in Canada to receive scheduled passenger airline service (Grise Fiord Airport, which is served ...

in the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

which is the northernmost destination in Canada served by scheduled airline flights. By 1968, Pacific Western had introduced

Convair 640 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inr ...

turboprop aircraft (which the airline called the "Javelin Jet-Prop") on many of its flights from the airport and had also introduced its "Chieftain Airbus" shuttle service linking Edmonton and Calgary operated with

Douglas 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 ...

propliners with six round trip nonstop flights a day between the two cities. According to the June 24, 1968 Pacific Western system timetable, Douglas DC-6 and DC-6B passenger aircraft as well as all-cargo

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 ...

aircraft were also being operated by the airline to destinations located north of Edmonton. The jet age arrived at the airport in 1969 when Pacific Western introduced

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...

jetliners with nonstop flights to Calgary, Fort Smith and Hay River with direct, no change of plane 737 jet service to Vancouver, Yellowknife, Kamloops, Kelowna, Cranbrook, Penticton, Inuvik and Norman Wells.

1970s and 1980s

Several types of jet passenger aircraft were operated into ECCA, notably the

. As noted above, these 737 flights were initially operated by

followed by its successor

Canadian Airlines Canadian Airlines International Ltd. (stylized as Canadi›n Airlines or Canadi‹n Airlines, or simply Canadian) was a Canadian airline that operated from 1987 until 2001. The airline was Canada's second largest airline after Air Canada, carr ...

(formerly

) from the initial purchase of these aircraft in the late 1960s up until the merger of Pacific Western with Canadian, with the latter continuing to operate 737 flights into the airport. Pacific Western flew its "Chieftain Airbus" shuttle service between the airport and

(YYC) for many years with the 737 and in 1976 was operating up to fourteen Boeing 737-200 departures a day nonstop from ECCA to YYC in addition to operating direct 737 jet flights into the airport from Castlegar, BC,

Cranbrook, BC Cranbrook ( ) is a city in southeast British Columbia, Canada, located on the west side of the Kootenay River at its confluence with the St. Mary's River. It is the largest urban centre in the region known as the East Kootenay. As of 2016, Cranbr ...

, Dawson Creek, BC,

Fort Chipewyan Fort Chipewyan , commonly referred to as Fort Chip, is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada, within the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo. It is located on the western tip of Lake Athabasca, adjacent to Wood Buffalo National Park, app ...

, AB,

High Level High Level is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located at the intersection of the Mackenzie Highway (Highway 35) and Highway 58, approximately north of Edmonton and south of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. High Level is located w ...

, AB,

Kamloops, BC Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, ...

Kelowna, BC Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

Peace River The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...

, AB,

Penticton, BC Penticton ( ) is a city in the Okanagan Valley of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, situated between Okanagan and Skaha lakes. In the 2016 Canadian Census, its population was 33,761, while its census agglomeration population ...

Prince George, BC 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 ...

Uranium City Uranium City is a northern settlement in Saskatchewan, Canada. Located on the northern shores of Lake Athabasca near the border of the Northwest Territories, it is above sea level. The settlement is northwest of Prince Albert, northeast of ...

, SK and

Vancouver, BC Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

. The runway lengths at ECCA mandated the absolute maximum performance characteristics of the Boeing 737-200 jetliner due to its weight; however, the extreme wear caused by utilising this airfield and pushing these limits was a concern. Other jet service came in the form of the

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

BAe 146-200 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro Internationa ...

as Air Canada Connector flights operated by

Air BC Air BC was a Canadian regional airline headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. It later became part of Air Canada Jazz. This regional airline primarily flew turboprop aircraft but also operated jets as well as an Air Canada Connecto ...

on behalf of

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

jets in Air Canada livery operated briefly out of ECCA in the mid 1980s but left due to field/weight limitations.

Time Air Time Air was an airline in Canada founded in 1966 by businessman Walter “Stubb” Ross from Lethbridge in Alberta. It was called Lethbridge Air Service before becoming Time Airways Ltd. which was then shortened to Time Air Ltd. In 1993 it ...

and its later brand of Canadian Regional operated

Fokker F28 Fellowship The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner designed and built by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Following the Fokker F27 Friendship, an early and commercially successful turboprop-powered regional airliner, Fokker ...

twin jets, while

Echo Bay Mines Limited Echo Bay Mines Limited was a Canadian company which was organized in 1964 by Northwest Explorers Limited to develop a silver deposit at Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada, which had been staked in 1930 by The Consolidated Mining and Sm ...

operated a private passenger/cargo

Boeing 727-100 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter f ...

combi aircraft Combi aircraft in commercial aviation are aircraft that can be used to carry either passengers as an airliner, or cargo as a freighter, and may have a partition in the aircraft cabin to allow both uses at the same time in a mixed passenger/fr ...

trijet from the field for several years. Time Air previously operated

Fokker F27 Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...

and

Short 330 The Short 330 (also SD3-30) is a small turboprop transport aircraft produced by Short Brothers. It seats up to 30 people and was relatively inexpensive and had low maintenance costs at the time of its introduction in 1976. The 330 was based on ...

turboprop aircraft from the airfield during the 1970s as well as

Convair 580 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7 The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with short take-off and landing (STOL) performance. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, d ...

and

de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

turboprops during the 1980s. Both the Twin Otter and Dash 7 have short takeoff and landing (

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

) capabilities so runway length was not an issue for these particular aircraft types. Besides operating flights with 737 jets, Pacific Western also operated

Lockheed L-188 Electra The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensiv ...

turboprop service from the airport during the mid 1970s with nonstop flights to

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significant ...

and

province as well as direct to

Fort Smith, NWT Fort Smith ( chp, Thebacha "beside the rapids") is a town in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. It is located in the southeastern portion of the Northwest Territories, on the Slave River and adjacent to the Alber ...

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 ...

. By early 1985, Pacific Western was operating eighteen nonstop

flights every weekday from the airport to Calgary via its "Chieftain Airbus" shuttle schedule linking the two cities. There were also two other airlines competing with Pacific Western at this time on the Edmonton (YXD) - Calgary (YYC) nonstop route:

operating

jets with two flights on weekdays and

operating

turboprops with three flights on weekdays for a combined total of 23 flights every weekday operated by the three airlines.http://www.departedflights.com, Feb. 15, 1985 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Calgary flight schedules In contrast, there were only four nonstop jet flights every weekday from Calgary (YYC) to

Edmonton International Airport Edmonton International Airport, as of August 29, 2022, officially branded YEG Edmonton International Airport is the primary air passenger and air cargo facility in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of the Canadian province of Alberta. Designat ...

(YEG) at this same time in 1985: one flight each respectively operated by Air Canada and

and two flights operated by Pacific Western. Also in contrast at this same time, there was only one nonstop flight a day operated on the weekdays from Edmonton International to Calgary with this service being flown by

. Other airlines serving ECCA as this time were

Norcanair Norcanair was the name of a Canadian airline that existed from 1947 to 1987, and again briefly in the early 1990s and from 2001 to 2005. History Norcanair traces its history back to M&C Aviation, founded in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 1930 by ...

with

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 ...

turboprop service nonstop from

Lloydminster Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city is incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administrati ...

and direct from

, and

Southern Frontier Airlines Southern Frontier Airlines was a commuter airline based in Canada which was acquired by Time Air on April 25, 1988. In 1985, Southern Frontier was operating Beechcraft 99 turboprop aircraft from its base in Calgary to Lloydminster, Saskatchewan ...

with nonstop

Beechcraft 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier Be ...

commuter turboprop service from

Cold Lake, AB Cold Lake is a city in northeastern Alberta, Canada and is named after the lake nearby. Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake (CFB Cold Lake) is situated within the city's outer limits. History Cold Lake was first recorded on a 1790 map, by the name ...

.http://www.departedflights.com, Feb. 15, 1985 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Edmonton Municipal Airport flight schedules According to the April 28, 1985 Pacific Western system timetable, in addition to its nonstop flights to Calgary the airline was operating direct, no change of plane 737 jet service from the airport to the Canadian destinations of

, Regina,

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

and

Penticton Penticton ( ) is a city in the Okanagan Valley of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, situated between Okanagan and Skaha lakes. In the 2016 Canadian Census, its population was 33,761, while its census agglomeration The ce ...

. Pacific Western had become an all-jet air carrier with a fleet of 737 aircraft at this time. Time Air was also operating nonstop flights into the airport from other locations besides Calgary in 1985 including

and Peace River, Alberta with these services being flown with

turboprops as well as with the Dash 7. The airport also had service to the U.S. during the mid 1980s. In 1985, Pacific Western was operating direct, no change of plane

jet service to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

via intermediate stops at Calgary and Vancouver. In 1987,

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started o ...

in conjunction with Pacific Western was operating two flights a day to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

with direct service to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

(IAH). Pacific Western operated the Edmonton-Calgary portion of the service with

s and passengers then transferred to Continental operated

jetliners in Calgary for the flights to Texas. According to the February 1, 1987 Continental timetable, the respective routings of these flights were YXD-YYC-DFW-IAH and YXD-YYC-IAH, and both services were operated with Continental flight numbers.

1990s

By 1995, three different airlines were operating a combined total of up to 32 nonstop flights a day from the airport to Calgary according to the

Official Airline Guide OAG is a global travel data provider with headquarters in the UK. The company was founded in 1929 and operates in the USA, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China. It has a large network of flight information data including schedules, flight sta ...

(OAG).

Canadian Airlines International Canadian Airlines International Ltd. (stylized as Canadi›n Airlines or Canadi‹n Airlines, or simply Canadian) was a Canadian airline that operated from 1987 until 2001. The airline was Canada's second largest airline after Air Canada, carr ...

was operating flights between ECCA and Calgary with

jetliners while

flying as Canadian Partner on behalf of Canadian via a

code sharing In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

agreement was operating

Fokker F28 The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner designed and built by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Following the Fokker F27 Friendship, an early and commercially successful turboprop-powered regional airliner, Fokke ...

jets and

turboprops.

operating as Air Canada Connector on behalf of

via a

agreement was flying

jets and

turboprops on the route at this same time.

Final years (2000–2013)

In its final years, before closing in 2013, the airport was mainly used for

air charter Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a airline ticket, ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad h ...

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

flight training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

and medivac (

air ambulance Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...

). In addition, from 2005 to 2012, the airport was annually converted into a speedway for the

Edmonton Indy The Edmonton Indy was a round of the IndyCar Series held at a temporary circuit set up at the Edmonton City Centre Airport near the downtown area of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was formerly called the ''Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton'' and was a ...

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ( ...

race. In 2008 Champ Car merged with the

Indy Racing League The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

, and became the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

. The

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series The NASCAR Pinty's Series (french: Série NASCAR Pinty's), commonly abbreviated as NPS, is a national NASCAR racing series in Canada, and is a continuation of the old CASCAR Super Series which was founded in 1981. History In September 2006 NASC ...

also raced at the speedway in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012. Beginning with the July 2011 event, the track layout was reconfigured to use a more northeasterly section of the airport, including Runway 16/34 (which had been permanently closed).

Obsolescence and closure

Debate

The fate of the Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA) was fiercely debated for decades, beginning in the 1950s. To accommodate demands for ever-increasing range, new generations of jet aircraft became increasingly larger and heavier, resulting in the need for a longer set of

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

s. It became clear that it would be economically and in many cases physically impossible to accommodate modern jet aircraft at ECCA. With no ability to expand the runways, a search began for a site for construction of a new international airport. Edmonton entered into fifty years of airport debates shaped by issues of logistics, transportation, and regional disparities. To the north of the city, a World War II military base (now

CFB Edmonton CFB Edmonton (also called 3rd Canadian Division Support Base Edmonton) is a Canadian Forces base located in Sturgeon County adjacent to the City of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. It is also known as Edmonton Garrison or "Steele Barracks". His ...

) had been built at Namao by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. In the 1950s, the base was expanded to handle

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

military bomber aircraft, including the longest runway in Canada.

Leduc, Alberta Leduc ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is south of the provincial capital of Edmonton and is part of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. History Leduc was established in 1891, when Robert Telford, a settler, who had bought ...

, located south by southwest of downtown Edmonton, was chosen as the site for the

which opened in 1960. It was initially decided that ECCA would be closed in 1963, upon completion of a new passenger terminal at Edmonton International. However, the issue was reexamined by consultants, and particularly in view of the unforeseen development of

regional airliner A regional airliner or a feederliner is a small airliner that is designed to fly up to 100 passengers on short-haul flights, usually feeding larger carriers' airline hubs from small markets. This class of airliners is typically flown by the re ...

service at ECCA, especially to

, the City of Edmonton decided to keep ECCA open and operate both airports. In Edmonton's 1992 municipal election, the City of Edmonton held a plebiscite, the Edmonton Municipal Airport Referendum. The result of the referendum was that Bylaw No. 10,205, which kept ECCA open to all traffic that the field could legally handle, was approved with a vote of 54%. In the 1995 election, a second plebiscite was put forth to the citizens of Edmonton asking if the bylaw should be repealed on the basis of consolidating all scheduled traffic at Edmonton International. Determination of whether or not to close the airport was not given as an option. 77% of voters approved the proposed version, and in June 1996, the consolidation process was finalized. In 2010, a group called "Envision Edmonton" organized numerous initiatives to lobby against the City Centre Airport's closure. Envision Edmonton, and other critics of the proposal, circulated a petition which garnered over 70,000 signatures, organized protests, and supported pro-airport candidates in Edmonton's 2010 municipal election. The petition, which would have forced a municipal plebiscite on the fate of the airport, was found to fall below the requirements because less than 10% of Edmontonians signed it, and it was not filed within 60 days of city council's decision to close the airport. The petition contained approximately 100,000 signatures when it was filed, but city staff determined that almost 30,000 of them did not belong to eligible electors.

Closure

On July 8, 2009, the city council decided on a phased closure of the airport. The

Alberta Aviation Museum The Alberta Aviation Museum is an aviation museum located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The museum is located on-site at the former Edmonton City Centre (Blatchford Field) Airport on the southwest corner of the field (11410 Kingsway Avenue). T ...

and some non-aviation institutions were to remain, with some land transferred to

, and the rest converted to a primarily residential development. The north–south runway, Runway 16/34, was to be the first runway closed. The closure was postponed until after the Indy and Airfest events of 2010. On August 3, 2010, Runway 16/34 was closed to air traffic with a

Notice to Airmen A Notice to Airmen/Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM), is a notice filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the flight. NOTAMs are unclassified notices or ...

being issued at 3:00 am that morning. Closure of the remaining runway, Runway 12/30, was announced at an Edmonton City Council meeting on September 26, 2013. Licenses for scheduled air service were not renewed. On the afternoon of November 30, 2013, the last airplane to leave the airfield was a

Cessna 172 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.

, owned and piloted by a local. Weather prevented a pair of CF-18 fighter jets from performing a

touch-and-go landing In aviation, a touch-and-go landing (TGL) or circuit is a maneuver that is common when learning to fly a fixed-wing aircraft. It involves landing on a runway and taking off again without coming to a full stop. Usually the pilot then circles the a ...

as the ceremonial last takeoff. Shortly afterwards, ERAA placed barricades on Runway 12/30 to prevent access, and markers were placed to clearly signal to pilots that it was closed. On February 21, 2015, a

Pipistrel Virus The Pipistrel Virus is a two-seat, single engine light aircraft, manufactured by Pipistrel in Slovenia and Italy, and sold as an ultralight, homebuilt kit, or light-sport aircraft.Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2012 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitpl ...

aircraft C-FCDZ flying over the site of the airport suffered a propeller failure, resulting in an unplanned landing on the airport grounds using the plane's

ballistic parachute A ballistic parachute, ballistic reserve parachute, or emergency ballistic reserve parachute, is a parachute ejected from its casing by a small explosion, much like that used in an ejection seat. The advantage of the ballistic parachute over a co ...

Blatchford community

, 525 acres of the former Blatchford Field is undergoing redevelopment into a medium- and high-density neighbourhood. In February 2019, the

purchased 33 acres of land in Blatchford, as well as more land at the site of the former Westwood Transit Garage, to consolidate most of its operations at its main campus; the city of Edmonton reinvested its revenue from this sale into the development of Blatchford. The Blatchford area will be broken into five boroughs: Blatchford West, Blatchford East, Blatchford Park, Civic Plaza, and Town Centre. Blatchford West, the first borough to be developed, will have more than 6,000 townhouses and apartments, while Blatchford East will have more than 4,000 townhouses and apartments. Blatchford Park will be around 120 acres in size and will include a large lake. The Town Centre and Civic Plaza will accommodate various businesses, markets, shops, and two Light Rail Transit (LRT) stations. Construction is currently under way on stage one of the development, which will contain up to 500 homes. Energy Centre One, a district energy sharing system, went online in September 2019; its geo-exchange field, which contains boreholes drilled approximately 150 meters into the earth, is located under the lake in Blatchford Park. Work to extend the

Metro line The Metro Line is a light rail transit line on the Edmonton LRT system. The line operates from northwest Edmonton to south Edmonton, and was scheduled to have begun operation by spring 2014 but instead opened on September 6, 2015, at a reduced ...

of Edmonton's LRT network to Blatchford began in June 2020, and it is expected to open in 2024 or 2025. The first residents moved into Blatchford in November 2020.

Airport facilities (historical)

Airfield and runways

The field elevation was . * Runway 12/30 was . Runway 12 had an

RNAV Area navigation (RNAV, usually pronounced as "''ar-nav"'') is a method of instrument flight rules (IFR) navigation that allows an aircraft to choose any course within a network of navigation beacons, rather than navigate directly to and from t ...

(

GNSS A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pre ...

)

instrument approach In aviation, an instrument approach or instrument approach procedure (IAP) is a series of predetermined maneuvers for the orderly transfer of an aircraft operating under instrument flight rules from the beginning of the initial approach to a landi ...

to LPV minimums, and Runway 30 had an RNAV (GNSS) approach to

LNAV In aviation, lateral navigation (LNAV, usually pronounced ''el-nav'') is azimuth navigation, without vertical navigation (VNAV). Area navigation (RNAV) approach plates include LNAV as a non-precision instrument approach (NPA). When combined with V ...

minimums. * Runway 16/34 was permanently closed in October 2010. The former NDB approaches to runways 16 and 34 were available to circling minimums. Due to the airport's location in the central portion of the city, there were both curfew restrictions and noise abatement procedures. The field maintained 24/7 operations, with the strictest noise regulations in effect from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am local time.

Facilities and amenities

For private and corporate aviation, there were 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 (FBO) on site, located on the west side of the airfield off Taxiway A. On-site amenities included the Alberta Aviation Museum, two hotels, and a cafeteria in the Edmonton Flying Club's building. A flight school was operated at Centennial Flight Centre. Private

s used the

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...

Avitat hangar to store their ground support units. A

STARS A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

air ambulance was also based at the airport. Further amenities located close to the airport included shopping at

Kingsway Mall Kingsway Mall (formerly Kingsway Garden Mall) is a shopping centre located in central Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The mall, constructed in 1976, completed a $70-million redevelopment from 2007–2009. The "Revealing" held the weekend of 13 Novembe ...

, lodging at the Chateau Louis hotel, and a

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

train station to the north, off Bush Pilot Road. The Alberta and Edmonton office for St. John Ambulance was located nearby. Proximity to the Royal Alexandra Hospital provided a link for emergency medical access by air to many of Alberta's rural communities.

Accidents and incidents

Four flights originating at the airport ended in fatal crashes: * On 27 October 1948, a

on its way to Alaska crashed 55 km north of the airport because the pilot was teaching emergency procedures to the copilot at too low an altitude, killing two out of five occupants. * On 26 May 1955, an Associated Airways Avro York failed to clear an obstacle on takeoff and crashed northwest of the airport, killing both occupants. * On 17 September 1955, a

Bristol Freighter The Bristol Type 170 Freighter is a British twin-engine aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as both a freighter and airliner. Its best known use was as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively sh ...

on its way to Yellowknife crashed north of

Thorhild, Alberta Thorhild is a hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Thorhild County. It is located at the intersection of Highway 18 and Highway 827, approximately north of the City of Edmonton. Thorhild was formerly a village until April 1, 2009, when it dissol ...

, killing two out of six occupants. The overloaded aircraft suffered an engine failure twenty minutes after departure. * On 25 October 2010, a

Kenn Borek Air Kenn Borek Air is an airline based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It operates regional passenger and cargo services, contract operations in the Arctic and Antarctic and aircraft leasing. Its main base is at Calgary International Airport. It chart ...

Beechcraft King Air The Beechcraft King Air is a line of American utility aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The King Air line comprises a number of twin-turboprop models that have been divided into two families. The Model 90 and 100 series developed in the 1960s ...

stalled and crashed on approach to Kirby Lake Airport, killing one of ten occupants.C-FAFD
/ref>

References

External links

* {{authority control Defunct airports in Alberta Airports established in 1929 1929 establishments in Alberta Airports disestablished in 2011 Edmonton-Blatchford Edmonton-Blatchford Edmonton-Blatchford *

Early history

RCAF Station Edmonton

Weather

Scheduled passenger service

1950s and 1960s

1970s and 1980s

1990s

Final years (2000–2013)

Obsolescence and closure

Debate

Closure

Blatchford community

Airport facilities (historical)

Airfield and runways

Facilities and amenities

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

External links