Canadian Forces Base Comox , commonly referred to as CFB Comox or 19 Wing, is a Canadian Forces Base located north northeast of Comox, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It is primarily operated as an air force base 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 environ ...

(RCAF) and is one of two bases in the country using the CP-140 Aurora anti-submarine/maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft. Its primary RCAF lodger unit is 19 Wing, commonly referred to as 19 Wing Comox. CFB Comox's airfield is also used by civilian aircraft. The civilian passenger terminal building operations are called the Comox Valley Airport and are operated by the Comox Valley Airport Commission. 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. Intern ...

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 c ...

(CBSA).

History

Military air base operations

The

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

(RAF) constructed the airfield at the strategic location of Comox in spring 1942. RAF Station Comox was built to guard against any possible Japanese threat to North America. In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed as RCAF Aerodrome - Comox, British Columbia at with no listed variation or elevation. The aerodrome was listed as "Under construction - Serviceable" with two runways as follows: In 1943, the RCAF took over control of the airfield, renaming the facility RCAF Station Comox. The RCAF used Comox for training crews of transport aircraft for the rest of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, basing a training squadron flying the Douglas Dakota in 1944. From 1946 until 1952 the base was mothballed until tensions resulting from the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

and Cold War prompted reactivation and the establishment of a permanent RCAF base on Canada's Pacific coast. No.

407 Maritime Patrol Squadron 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron (abbreviated 407 LRP Sqn, formerly 407 Maritime Patrol Squadron) is a long range and maritime patrol squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force. It is located at 19 Wing Comox, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia ...

initially used the

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the S ...

then Lockheed P2V Neptune, followed by the Canadair CP-107 Argus and now the Lockheed CP-140 Aurora. No. 409 All Weather Fighter Interceptor Squadron was equipped with the

Canadair CT-33 Silver Star The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

and

Avro CF-100 Canuck The Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck (affectionately known as the "Clunk") is a Canadian twinjet interceptor/ fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Avro Canada. It has the distinction of being the only Canadian-designed fighter to en ...

, followed by the McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo, an example of which can be found on display at the main entrance of 19 Wing. In 1954, Comox became home to a

Pinetree Line The Pinetree Line was a series of radar stations located across the northern United States and southern Canada at about the 50th parallel north, along with a number of other stations located on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Run by North Ame ...

radar early-warning station, operated by the 51 Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (radar). This facility was closed in June 1958 with the advent of more advanced radar systems such as the Mid-Canada Line and the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line). In 1964, RCAF Station Sea Island near Vancouver International Airport was closed and turned over to the Canadian Coast Guard. Sea Island's 121 Composite Unit moved to Comox and was reorganized as 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron, flying the Grumman HU-16 Albatross fixed-wing and

Piasecki H-21 The Piasecki H-21 Workhorse/Shawnee is an American helicopter, the fourth of a line of tandem rotor helicopters designed and built by Piasecki Helicopter (later Boeing Vertol). Commonly called "the flying banana", it was a multi-mission helicop ...

helicopter, later re-equipping with the CH-113 Labrador and CC-115 Buffalo. The Labrador helicopter was replaced with the AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant starting in 2001. On February 1, 1968, the RCAF merged with the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack subma ...

(RCN) and

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases acr ...

to form the unified

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

. RCAF Station Comox was renamed Canadian Forces Base Comox, shortened to CFB Comox. During a 1975 reorganization of the Canadian Forces, Air Command (AIRCOM) was created to operate the air element. After CFB Comox began sharing the airport with scheduled airlines and other civilian aircraft, a

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, ...

flown by

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airline ...

became the first jumbo jet to operate into the field when it made an emergency landing there on June 5, 1979. The flight, chartered by the U.S. military to transport 368 active duty personnel and their families from Travis Air Force Base to Japan and South Korea, was over Cape Scott following an intermediate stop at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport when fire broke out in one of the aircraft's engines. Efforts to extinguish the flames were unsuccessful; the crew declared an emergency and requested permission to land on the runway at CFB Comox. Though no flames were visible, the fire warning light was still flashing in the cockpit as the plane landed. There were no injuries to the passengers or to the 13 crew members. Base officials, practiced at hosting large numbers of Canadian Forces personnel, ensured that the plane's occupants were comfortable while awaiting a new aircraft to carry them to their destinations. In 1980, 407 Squadron began re-equipping with the Lockheed CP-140 Aurora. In 1984, 409 Squadron moved from CFB Comox to CFB Cold Lake leaving the base with the duties of coastal patrol, anti-submarine and transport missions, and

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

(SAR) missions. In 1989, a strike force of

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

KC-135E tankers from the Washington Air National Guard deployed to CFB Comox as part of the annual Global Shield Exercise. The deployment, which included vehicles, equipment and armed personnel arriving by landing craft at a local beach, prompting some locals to ask whether the United States was invading Canada.

Commercial airline service

During the late 1950s, Pacific Western Airlines was serving the airfield with nonstop and one-stop direct flights to Vancouver operated with

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper versi ...

aircraft with the one-stop service being flown via Campbell River, British Columbia. By the early 1960s, the airline had expanded their DC-3 service with nonstop flights to Port Hardy as well. Pacific Western then introduced turboprop service with the Convair 640 (which the airline called the "Javelin Jet-Prop") and was continuing to operate nonstop flights to Vancouver, Port Hardy, and Campbell River during the late 1960s. The airline then began operating jet service into the airfield with the Boeing 737-200 and in 1975 was operating two nonstop 737 flights a day to Vancouver. Pacific Western would continue to serve Comox with Boeing 737-200 jet flights through the mid-1980s by which time the air carrier had become an all-jet airline. By 1995, the airfield no longer had jet service with flights to Vancouver being operated by either Air BC flying

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocea ...

Connector

code share In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicat ...

service with de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprops or by

Time Air Time Air was an airline in Canada founded in 1966 by businessman Walter “Stubb” Ross from Lethbridge in Alberta. It was called Lethbridge Air Service before becoming Time Airways Ltd. which was then shortened to Time Air Ltd. In 1993 it ...

operating Canadian Airlines Partner codeshare service with Dash 8 and Short 360 turboprops. According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), Air BC and Time Air were operating a combined total of ten round trip nonstop flights on weekdays between Comox and Vancouver at this time. In 2003 the airport received a complete renovation, increasing the flow of people in the airport by almost 400 people, as well as building a customs area which was much needed. In the early 2000's Air Transat and Sunwing were flying to Mexico during the winter months, but have discontinued service about a decade ago. In April 2012, a Korean Air 777 airliner was forced to make an emergency landing at Comox after the airline received a bomb threat. The flight was diverted to the airbase at Comox, on Vancouver Island, escorted by U.S. air force F-15 fighter jets that had been scrambled from Portland, Ore. Korean Air Flight 72, with 149 people on board, had taken off from Vancouver International Airport headed for Seoul, South Korea, at 2:30 p.m. PT Tuesday. The crew turned back off the north coast of B.C. after a bomb threat was made in a telephone call. it was one of the largest passenger airlines to fly into Comox.

Military use

CFB Comox is the primary air defense installation on Canada's

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the P ...

and serves as the home base for maritime patrol/anti-submarine aircraft and fixed-wing and rotary-wing

(SAR) aircraft. Its primary lodger unit, 19 Wing, has two operational squadrons: *

flying the Lockheed CP-140 Aurora * 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron flying the

CC-295 Kingfisher The CASA C-295 (now Airbus C295) is a medium tactical transport aircraft that was designed and initially manufactured by the Spanish aerospace company CASA. Work on what would become the C-295 was started during the 1990s as a derivative of t ...

fixed-wing aircraft and AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant rotary-wing aircraft *

418 Search and Rescue Operational Training Squadron 418 Search and Rescue Operational Training Squadron is a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force, formed during World War II. History 418 Squadron RCAF was Canada's highest-scoring squadron in World War II, in terms of both air-to-air and air-to-gr ...

flying the

. 19 Wing also includes the 19 Air Maintenance Squadron, and a number of other organizations. CFB Comox is the location of the Canadian Forces School of Search and Rescue, where all para-rescue specialists in the Canadian Forces, known as Search And Rescue Technicians or "SAR Techs", undergo training. CFB Comox serves as a forward operating base for temporary deployments 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 Ne ...

fighter-interceptor. Every April, the Snowbirds practice at 19 Wing Comox. CFB Comox is used by the

Royal Canadian Air Cadets The Royal Canadian Air Cadets (french: Cadets de l'Aviation royale du Canada) is a Canadian national youth program for young individuals aged 12 to 18. Under the authority of the National Defence Act, the program is administered by the Canadian F ...

for glider and powered flight training, training glider pilots on Schweizer SGS 2-33As and housing the cadets training on Cessna 172s respectively in the summer months. Training for the Advanced Aviation Air Cadet Course is also hosted at CFB Comox. An annex of CFB Comox, Annex A "Goose Spit", is used by the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets for CSTC HMCS ''Quadra'' where 600 sea cadets undergo training in the basic trades of music (combined with

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and Air cadets), gunnery, boatswain, and sail. It also trains cadets in three specialty trades marine engineering, shipwright, and silver sail. The annex is also host to the local Canadian Forces Sail Association. CFB Comox is planned to be one of the two Canadian bases operating armed drones in the late 2020s, the other being

CFB Greenwood Canadian Forces Base Greenwood , or CFB Greenwood, is a Canadian Forces Base located east of Greenwood, Nova Scotia. It is primarily operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force and is one of two bases in the country using the ...

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 En ...

Civilian use

CFB Comox shares the airfield with a civilian terminal for commercial flights;

WestJet WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...

, Pacific Coastal Airlines have been servicing the airport since 2000,

has been serving the airport off and on from 2000-2008 then from 2015 to present. Flair Airlines started service in 2022 and Swoop will start flights later in 2022 marking the first low-cost airlines starting service for the airport. The base hosts a biennial airshow (although not held from 2005 to 2012) to celebrate

Canadian Forces Day Many nations around the world observe some kind of Armed Forces Day to honor their military forces. This day is not to be confused with Veterans Day or Memorial Day. Africa Egypt In Egypt, Armed Forces Day is celebrated on 6 October, ...

. The base is also home to the Comox Air Force Museum which features several aircraft and other historical exhibits. The base is a primary employer in the Comox Valley.

Comox Airport (YQQ)

Facilities

The Comox Airport has a number of facilities available. Two major businesses are in the airport terminal: On the Fly Café and Mid Island Gifts. There is also a bike repair station on-site. The Airport has its own fuel service, Shell Aviation Canada and provides Jet A1fuel and Jet A1 fuel with FSII. YQQ has a CANPASS Customs area for international arrivals. There are three car rental agencies at YQQ: Budget Car, Enterprise and National Car Rental

Terminal

YQQ has a 36,000 Square foot terminal with 1,000 square feet for retail, the airport has 6 aircraft parking spots and 300 on site parking and 140 overflow parking areas. YQQs hold room can seat about 200 people. There are two baggage carrousels for arrivals.

COVID-19 pandemic

Throughout the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

passenger service dipped to few flights per week, with Pacific Coastal Airlines and

pulling service temporarily from the airport, and

pulling service from

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anc ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

, WestJet reduced flights to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

to one flight every couple of days. Passenger numbers for the Comox Airport plunged in 2020 as a direct result of the pandemic. In 2019 the airport had more than 400,000 passengers, and in 2020 it was under 200,000 passengers. WestJet announced new routes from the airport for the summer of 2021, from Comox to Toronto, and WestJet link service to Vancouver. Air Canada has resumed its service to Vancouver.

Fall 2021 and Beyond

In October 2021, Flair Airlines announced that they would be starting flights from Comox to

and

starting late March 2022. It was unclear if

plans on resuming service to Puerto Vallarta for the winter season of 2021-2022, due to uncertainly around COVID-19 and the travel restrictions in Canada. On November 15, 2021, Swoop Airlines announce that they will commence three times weekly service from Edmonton, using their modern fleet of Boeing 737-800NG aircraft, on Thursday, June 9, 2022. “Swoop’s arrival will generate a lot of excitement for travelers looking for affordable options to reconnect with their friends and family,” said Mike Atkins, Comox Valley Airport’s CEO. “We are delighted to have Swoop support travel to the Comox Valley, particularly for our tourism partners ready to welcome visitors to the spectacular region we serve" On 18 November 2021, 22 people were injured in an explosion at the barracks at CFB Comox. Sixteen military members and six civilians were injured on Thursday after an explosion took place at a barracks building that was undergoing renovations. 59 people were housed in the building, though not everyone was inside of the building at the time of the blast. During the flooding in BC, members from CFB Comox assisted in rescuing people stranded after flooding and mudslides washed out multiple sections of Highway 7 near

Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...

. In the 48 hours leading up to the CAF request for assistance, the Royal Canadian Air Force dispatched three Cormorant helicopters from 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron to airlift more than 300 people, 26 dogs and one cat to safety.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger numbers for Comox Airport

References

External links

19 Wing Comox official websitePassenger terminalPage about this airport
on COPA's ''Places to Fly'' airport directory
Comox Air Force Museum (located at 19 Wing) website
{{authority control Military airbases in British Columbia Comox Comox Valley Regional District Military history of British Columbia