Yellowknife Airport is located in

Yellowknife 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 ...

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. ...

, Canada. The airport is part of the

National Airports System Canada's National Airport System (NAS) was 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 airports serving the national, provincia ...

, and is operated by the

Government of the Northwest Territories The Politics of Northwest Territories involves not only the governance of the Northwest Territories but also the social, economic and political issues specific to the territory. This includes matters relating to local governance and governance by ...

. The airport has regular scheduled passenger service and a number of freight services. In 2007, the terminal handled 527,000 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, 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' ...

and is staffed by the

Canada Border Services Agency The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; french: Agence des services frontaliers du Canada, ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and cu ...

(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 with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

aircraft only, with no more than 15 passengers. The

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

(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; 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) to house the CC-138 Twin Otter and other utility aircraft operated by

440 Transport Squadron 440 Transport Squadron is a unit of the Canadian Armed Forces under the Royal Canadian Air Force. It is part of 8 Wing and works closely with Joint Task Force (North) located in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Based at Yellowknife Airport ...

, a subsidiary of

8 Wing Canadian Forces Base Trenton (also CFB Trenton), formerly RCAF Station Trenton, is a Canadian Forces base located within the city of Quinte West, Ontario. It is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is the hub ...

. 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 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 ...

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.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Emergency services

Polar Bear Sculpture, Yellowknife Airport

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.Aircraft Fire Fighting Services
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References

External links

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Yellowknife AirportEntry 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