Yellowknife Airport is located in

Yellowknife Yellowknife is the capital, largest community, and the 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 outlet of t ...

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

, Canada. The airport is part of the

National Airports System In Canada, the National Airports System (, NAS) is a group of major airports defined in the National Airports Policy published in 1994. It was intended to include all airports with an annual traffic of 200,000 passengers or more, as well as air ...

, and is operated by the Government of the Northwest Territories. The airport has regular scheduled passenger service and a number of freight services. In 2024, the airport handled 604,000 passengers. In 2008 the airport's passenger terminal underwent an expansion to the departure/check-in section, roughly doubling the size of the terminal. The airport is classified as an

airport of entry In general, a port of entry (POE) is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has border security staff and facilities to check passports and visas and to inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not imported. Internatio ...

Nav Canada Nav Canada (styled as NAV CANADA) is a privately run, non-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system (ANS). It was established by statute in accordance with the ''Civil Air Navigation Services Commercializati ...

and is staffed by the

Canada Border Services Agency The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; , ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border guard, border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and Customs, customs services in Canada. ...

(CBSA). CBSA officers at this airport can handle

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

aircraft only, with no more than 15 passengers. The

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

(RCMP) "G" Division maintains a hangar for its air section just south of the passenger terminal. It is adjacent to a hangar used by the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) 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 environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF) to house the CC-138 Twin Otter and other utility aircraft operated by 440 Transport Squadron, a subsidiary of 8 Wing. Canadian NORAD Region Forward Operating Location Yellowknife is located south-west of the airstrip. It was built for forwarding deployment of the

McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...

in times of conflict.

History

Yellowknife Airport was initially built by Canadian Pacific Airlines in 1944, then sold to the federal Department of Transport in 1946. A new terminal building was built in 1963 and control tower in 1972. Renovation to these facilities were completed in 1967, 1998 and 2005-2006. During the

2023 Canadian wildfires Beginning in March 2023, and with increased intensity starting in June, Canada was affected by a record-setting series of wildfires. All 13 Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories were affected, with large fires in Alberta ...

the city of Yellowknife was evacuated, and so the airport served as a means for evacuees to leave the city.

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

added extra flights to assist with the evacuation before suspending service to Yellowknife due to the fires.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Emergency services

The airport has its own fire and rescue service. The department has ten firefighters, but requires only two or three firefighters on shift to operate a single crash tender. Ambulance and additional fire response are provided by the

Yellowknife Fire Department Yellowknife Fire Division is a full-time fire department located in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada with full-time firefighters. The department was established in February 1943. Their staff consists of a fire chief, two deputy chiefs, ...

References

External links

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Entry about Yellowknife Airport on the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association's ''Places to Fly'' Airport Directory
{{authority control Certified airports in the North Slave Region Transport in Yellowknife National Airports System