Kuujjuaq Airport is located southwest of

Kuujjuaq Kuujjuaq (; iu, ᑰᑦᔪᐊᖅ, i=no or iu, ᑰᔾᔪᐊᖅ, i=no, label=none, "Great River"), formerly known as and by other names, is a former Hudson's Bay Company outpost at the mouth of the Koksoak River on Ungava Bay that has become t ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada.

History

Fort Chimo, Quebec aeronautical chart section

The airport site at Fort Chimo was located and surveyed on 12 July 1941 by a

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 ...

(USAAF) team under Captain Elliott Roosevelt, operating by

amphibious aircraft An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft (typically fixed-wing) that can take off and land on both solid ground and water, though amphibious helicopters do exist as well. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seaplanes ( flying boats ...

out of Gander,

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. The chosen site was upstream from the

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

, on the opposite shore. River access was difficult due to shifting, sandy banks and ice and high tides in the estuary. Code-named Crystal I, Fort Chimo was founded on 10 October 1941 by a 12-man weather station and radio communications crew under Antarctic veteran and former Lieutenant Commander,

Isaac Schlossbach Isaac "Ike" Schlossbach (c. August 20, 1891 – August 1984) was an American polar explorer, submariner and aviation pioneer. He was born in Bradley Beach, New Jersey and raised in Neptune Township, New Jersey where he attended Neptune High Sch ...

. Runway construction commenced next summer. The Crystal stations were part of the Crimson East project for trans-Atlantic ferry flights, Chimo being referred to as "Bookie". Fort Chimo did not actually serve in this intended capacity, but the station was useful for weather reporting, communications, and local support duties. Canada officially took control in 1944, although American crews remained for a period. Seasonal resupply was by

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

cutters. Fort Chimo was one of three "Crystal" sites in the Canadian

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 ...

, Frobisher Bay Air Base,

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

(now Iqaluit Airport,

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

) being "Crystal II", and a station on

Padloping Island Paallavvik (Inuktitut syllabics: ''ᐹᓪᓚᕝᕕᒃ'', ''Paallavvik'' means 'the place where one stumbles', from ''paallat'' 'to stumble' + -''vik'' 'place for X-ing', or ''paallakpuq'' 'to fall down (forward), trip, fall forward') formerly Pa ...

being "Crystal III". A detachment of the 8th Weather Squadron,

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies and ...

(ATC) took up residence at the station on 1 October 1942. The initial mission of the Crystal sites was to provide long-range weather information to the combat forces then building up in the United Kingdom. Crystal I was planned to be a transport hub between the Eastern Route, which originated at

Presque Isle Air Force Base Presque Isle Air Force Base was a military installation of the United States Air Force located near Presque Isle, Maine. In the late 1950s and early 1960s it became a base for Strategic Air Command. The original airport was constructed in 1930 ...

(now

Presque Isle International Airport Presque Isle International Airport , formally Northern Maine Regional Airport at Presque Isle, is a mile northwest of Presque Isle, in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. It serves the residents of Presque Isle and a vast area of northern Ma ...

), Maine and the Central Route, which originated at

Romulus Army Airfield Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport , usually called Detroit Metro Airport, Metro Airport, or simply DTW, is a major international airport in the United States covering effective December 30, 2021. in Romulus, Michigan. It is the primar ...

(Detroit Airport), Michigan. From Crystal I, the aircraft would be ferried via

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...

; Greenland; Iceland and delivered to Scotland. The development of the Mid-Atlantic Transport through the Azores and improved performance of the Gander-Iceland main route led to the cancellation of the Crimson Route project in 1943. The United States presence at Crystal I was reduced to a skeleton weather squadron; which ended in 1945, and the facilities were turned over to the Canadian government.AFHRA Document 00076350
/ref>

Nav Canada Nav Canada (styled as NAV CANADA) is a privately run, not-for-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system (ANS). It was established in accordance with the ''Civil Air Navigation Services Commercialization Act' ...

opened a $7-million air traffic control facility near the airport. The radar station allows controllers in Montreal to monitor the steady stream of transatlantic air traffic over northern Quebec. A large-scale terminal expansion project was carried out at the airport between 2006 and 2008. The $14.9 million project included the expansion of the airport apron and the construction of a brand new terminal to replace the cramped building built in 1972. The building, designed by architect Alain Fournier, received a silver certification under the Canadian

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

(LEED) program.

Operations

Kuujjuaq Airport is a

mandatory frequency airport An airport with a mandatory frequency (MF), mandatory traffic advisory frequency (MTAF) or air/ground radio (A/G) is an airport which does not have a control tower but still requires arriving and departing aircraft to communicate with other aircra ...

with an operating

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 ...

History

Operations

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

References

Further reading

External links