Nanisivik Airport, formerly , was located south of

Nanisivik Nanisivik ( iu, ᓇᓂᓯᕕᒃ, lit=the place where people find things; ) is a now-abandoned company town which was built in 1975 to support the lead-zinc mining and mineral processing operations for the Nanisivik Mine, in production between 19 ...

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

, Canada, and was operated by the Government of Nunavut. Although

Nanisivik Mine Nanisivik Mine was a zinc-lead mine in the company town of Nanisivik, Nunavut, north of the Arctic Circle on Baffin Island. It was Canada's first mine in the Arctic. The mine first opened on 15 October 1976 and permanently closed in September ...

closed in September 2002, the airport was in operation until 2011 and served the community of

Arctic Bay Arctic Bay (Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᒃᐱᐊᕐᔪᒃ, ''Ikpiarjuk'' "the pocket") is an Inuit hamlet located in the northern part of the Borden Peninsula on Baffin Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. Arctic Bay is located in th ...

. This was due to the small size of

Arctic Bay Airport Arctic Bay Airport is an airport located southeast of Arctic Bay, Nunavut, Canada. Until January 12, 2010 Nanisivik Airport, about from Arctic Bay, was used for scheduled flights. On January 13, 2010, First Air transferred all air services to ...

. However, on January 13, 2011, First Air transferred all scheduled air services to Arctic Bay's newly-expanded airport. The airport was about directly southeast of Arctic Bay, but the road between them is and a one way taxi fare was $40.00.Arctic Bay airport opens
/ref>

Conversion to naval station

On August 8, 2007,

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

reported that

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

documents showed plans to convert the site into a naval station. The plan, which would turn the former mine's existing port into a deepwater facility, would cost $60 million and it was expected that

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

would make an announcement during his stop in Resolute. On August 10, 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced construction of a new docking and refueling facility in Nanisivik for the

, in an effort to maintain a Canadian presence in Arctic waters during the navigable season (June–October). The choice for Nanisivik as a site was partially based on its location within the eastern entrance to the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the ...

, and as there is an existing deep-water berthing facility at the site, and a "jet-capable" airstrip nearby. Detailed planning for the project began in August 2007, with environmental studies and assessments will be being carried out in the summer of 2008. Construction at the site is expected to begin in the summer of 2010, with early operating capability available in 2012. The facility was planned to be fully operational by 2015, but now delayed until at least 2018. The re-opening of the Nanasivik Airport is unlikely to be needed as a helicopter pad is planned for the naval station site. However the old runway is not marked with a X and could be used as an emergency landing strip.

References

External links

{{List of airports in Canada Airports in the Arctic Baffin Island Defunct airports in Nunavut