Allan J. MacEachen Port Hawkesbury Airport is a registered

aerodrome An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

located north of

Port Hawkesbury Port Hawkesbury (Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Chlamhain'') is a municipality in southern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. While within the historical county of Inverness, it is not part of the Municipality of Inverness County. History ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, Canada. A short drive from the "gateway of Cape Breton Island" at the

Canso Causeway The Canso Causeway (''Cabhsair Chanso'' in Gaelic) is a rock-fill causeway crossing the Strait of Canso, connecting Cape Breton Island by road to the Nova Scotia peninsula. Its crest thickness is , carrying the two vehicle traffic lanes of th ...

, the airport is located near several tourist draws including the

Cabot Links Cabot Links is a golf course located in Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a full 18-hole true links course, but a 10-hole version of the course was opened in 2011. It was designed by Alberta native, Rod Whitman and is located on a former coal ...

, fishing in the Margaree River as well as other tourist draws on

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

and the eastern mainland of Nova Scotia.

Services and infrastructure

While owned by the town of Port Hawksbury the airport has been operated under contract by Celtic Air Services starting July 2017. At the same time the

Canada Flight Supplement The Canada Flight Supplement (CFS) (french: link=no, Supplément de vol Canada) is a joint civil/military publication and is a supplement of the Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP Canada). It is the nation's official airport directory. It ...

still shows the Municipality of Port Hawkesbury as the operator and has not updated the name. Services offered at the airport include aircraft parking and towing, aircraft servicing including fuel air conditioning, lavatory service, ground power and cabin grooming. The airport also provides an air conditioned executive lounge, opened in 2018.

History

The airport is funded jointly by the Town of Port Hawkesbury, the

Municipality of the County of Inverness The Municipality of the County of Inverness is a county municipality on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. It provides local government to about 17,000 residents of the historical county of the same name, except for the incorporated town ...

and the Municipality of the County of Richmond. Starting in 2011 the airport began to benefit from increased use due to flights arriving to access the new

and then Cabot Cliffs golf course in

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

. Flight volume increased a reported 4,000 percent over the first six years, which in turn led to contracting out the operations of the airport to Celtic Air Services in July 2017. In December 2017 the Port Hawkesbury town council voted unanimously to rename the airport after Allan J. MacEachen, the former Deputy Prime Minister and MP for

Inverness—Richmond Inverness—Richmond was a federal electoral district in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 to 1968. This riding was created in 1933 from parts of Inverness and Richmond—W ...

and later Cape Breton Highlands—Canso. In May 2018 Airshow Cape Breton was held at the airport, and featured 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 ...

Snowbirds.

Cabot Links controversy

In June 2019, the Federal government indicated that funding would possibly be made available to build a private airfield at

. The mayor of Port Hawkesbury and the airport operator raised concern that such an investment would jeopardize the operating of the airport, and that the airport could not survive if it lost the current private jet traffic to a new airport. Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton called on Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

and Premier

Stephen McNeil Stephen McNeil (born November 10, 1964) is a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Nova Scotia, from 2013 to 2021. He also represented the riding of Annapolis in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2003 to 2021 and was the le ...

to reconsider funding the project, stating that "two airports within an hour’s drive just doesn’t make sustainable economic sense."

References

External links

Page about this airport
on COPA's ''Places to Fly'' airport directory {{authority control Registered aerodromes in Nova Scotia Transport in Inverness County, Nova Scotia Buildings and structures in Inverness County, Nova Scotia