Thunder Bay International Airport

Thunder Bay International Airport
Aéroport International de Thunder Bay
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Transport Canada[1]
Operator Thunder Bay International Airports Authority
Serves Thunder Bay, Ontario
Time zone EST (UTC−05:00)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC−04:00)
Elevation AMSL 654 ft / 199 m
Coordinates 48°22′19″N 089°19′18″W / 48.37194°N 89.32167°W / 48.37194; -89.32167Coordinates: 48°22′19″N 089°19′18″W / 48.37194°N 89.32167°W / 48.37194; -89.32167
Website tbairport.on.ca
Map
CYQT
Location in Ontario
CYQT
CYQT (Canada)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
07/25 7,318 2,231 Asphalt
12/30 5,297 1,615 Asphalt
Statistics (2016)
Aircraft movements 94,836
Passengers 807,041
Sources: Canada Flight Supplement[2]
Environment Canada[3]
Movements from Statistics Canada[4]
Passengers from Thunder Bay Airport Authority Inc.[5]
Thunder Bay Airport ramp side

Thunder Bay International Airport, (IATA: YQT, ICAO: CYQT), is an airport in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. With 108,130 aircraft movements in 2012, it was the fourth busiest airport in Ontario and the 16th busiest airport in Canada.[4] During the same year, more than 761,000 passengers went through the airport.[5]

The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). CBSA officers at this airport can handle aircraft with up to 40 passengers.[2]

History

It was built as the Fort William Municipal Airport in 1938, partly as a means of relieving unemployment.[6]

During World War II, the Thunder Bay (then Fort William) airport was home to No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School, part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The airport was also used as a base for test flights of fighter aircraft being built at the nearby Canadian Car and Foundry factory.

Before the two cities of Fort William and Port Arthur merged, it was called the Canadian Lakehead Airport.

The airport went under major renovations in 1994 with the construction of a new airport terminal building, including two jetways, a large food court, a gift shop and an arcade.

The airport was handed over from the government in 1997 to the Thunder Bay International Airports Authority, a non-profit organization. The airport handled over 600,000 passengers in 2006 for the first time since 2001.[7]

Historical airline jet service

A number of airlines served the airport with scheduled passenger jet service in the past from the late 1960s to the late 1990s. These air carriers along with the respective jetliner types they operated from the airfield are as follows:

According to various Official Airline Guide (OAG) editions, the majority of jet service operated by Canadian-based air carriers was nonstop or direct to Toronto and Winnipeg. U.S.-based North Central Airlines operated nonstop flights to Duluth with continuing no change of plane jet service to Chicago O'Hare Airport while successor Republic Airlines (1979-1986) also flew nonstop to Duluth with continuing no change of plane jet service to Minneapolis/St. Paul and then on to Denver.[13][17]

During the mid 1980s, three airlines were competing with nonstop service operated with mainline jet aircraft between Thunder Bay and Toronto:[8] Air Canada with Boeing 727-200 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 aircraft, Nordair with Boeing 737-200 aircraft and Pacific Western Airlines with Boeing 737-200 aircraft.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Air Canada Express [18] Toronto–Pearson, Winnipeg
Bearskin Airlines [19] Dryden, Fort Frances, Sault Ste. Marie, Sioux Lookout, Sudbury
North Star Air [20][21] Sioux Lookout, Fort Hope/Eabametoong, Neskantaga, Ogoki Post, Webequie, Muskrat Dam, Sachigo Lake, Weagamow
Porter Airlines[22] Toronto–Billy Bishop
Sunwing Airlines [23] Seasonal: Cancun, Punta Cana (begins December 19, 2018)[24], Varadero
Superior Airways Charter: Red Lake
Wasaya Airways [25] Sioux Lookout, Winnipeg, Webequie
WestJet Encore [26] Toronto–Pearson, Winnipeg

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
Cargojet Airways Winnipeg
FedEx Feeder Winnipeg
North Star Airways On-Demand Canadian & US Destinations

Charter

AirlinesDestinations
Air Bravo On-Demand Charter
Thunder Airlines On-Demand Charter
North Star Airways On-Demand Canadian & US Destinations

Tenants

Parking and transportation

Vehicles can reach the airport via Ontario Highway 61 and connections with Harbour Expressway and Ontario Highway 11 into Thunder Bay's core.

The parking lot contains 100 short-term spaces, 300 long-term spaces, curbside taxi service and courtesy cars. Thunder Bay Transit bus route #3 Airport serves the airport terminal and the nearby Aviation Centre of Excellence.

Infrastructure

Thunder Bay Airport interior

The Thunder Bay International Airport has a 2-storey terminal building.

Thunder Bay's runways are at present primarily being used by small or larger turboprop aircraft such as the Bombardier Q400 propjet; however, they are capable of accommodating narrow-body jetliners such as current generation Boeing 737 aircraft operated by Air Transat, Sunwing Airlines and WestJet. As noted above, the airport routinely handled Boeing 727-200, Boeing 737-200 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 mainline jet aircraft as well as the smaller Fokker F28 Fellowship twin jet in the past. Other larger jet aircraft types have also landed at the airport in the past with examples including a Boeing 720 operated by American Airlines in 1962, Boeing 757-200 and wide body Airbus A310 aircraft operated by Royal Aviation subsidiary Royal Airlines in 1999 and 2000, and a wide body Boeing 747SP operated as the "Global Peace Ambassadors" aircraft for Christian preacher K.A. Paul in 2005.[27]

The airport also has two fixed-base operators: Innotech Aviation Services for Shell Aviation, and Thunder Bay Flight Refuelling for Esso Avitat.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The page has moved - La page a été déménagée". www.tc.gc.ca. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 19 July 2018 to 0901Z 13 September 2018.
  3. ↑ "Synoptic/Metstat Station Information". weatheroffice.gc.ca. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 Canada, Government of Canada, Statistics. "Aircraft Movement Statistics: NAV CANADA Towers and Flight Service Stations: Annual Report (TP 577): Table 2-1 — Total aircraft movements by class of operation — NAV CANADA towers". www.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Error Occurred - Utopia Control Panel" (PDF). www.tbairport.on.ca. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  6. ↑
    • Tronrud, Thorold J; Epp, Ernest A.; and others. (1995). Thunder Bay: From Rivalry to Unity Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine.. Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, pp96. ISBN 0-920119-22-0.
  7. ↑ "Error Occurred - Utopia Control Panel" (PDF). www.tbairport.on.ca. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 "Official Airline Guide (OAG)". Feb. 15, 1985 edition, Toronto-Thunder Bay schedules.
  9. ↑ "Official Airline Guide (OAG)". April 2, 1995 edition, Toronto-Thunder Bay schedules.
  10. ↑ "Official Airline Guide (OAG)". June 1, 1999 edition, Toronto-Thunder Bay schedules.
  11. ↑ "CanJet timetables".
  12. ↑ "Official Airline Guide (OAG)". Nov. 15, 1979 edition, Toronto-Thunder Bay schedules.
  13. 1 2 "North Central Airlines system timetable". Oct. 29, 1967 edition.
  14. ↑ "Official Airline Guide (OAG)". Nov. 15, 1979 edition, Duluth-Thunder Bay schedules.
  15. ↑ "Transair system timetables".
  16. ↑ "Vistajet timetable".
  17. ↑ "Republic Airlines system timetable". July 1, 1979 edition.
  18. ↑ "Air Canada Map". ac.fltmaps.com.
  19. ↑ "Bearskin Airlines - Route Map". www.bearskinairlines.com.
  20. ↑ "North Star Air Ltd. - Flex Flights Route Map". www.northstarair.ca.
  21. ↑ "North Star Air Ltd. - New! Dash 8 Service Marten Falls Muskrat Dam Round Lake Sachigo Lake / Schedules". www.northstarair.ca.
  22. ↑ Inc., Porter Airlines. "Interactive Route Map - Destinations - Porter Airlines". Porter Airlines.
  23. ↑ "Sunwing".
  24. ↑ "Sunwing expands services from Thunder Bay; adds direct flights to Punta Cana for the first time" (Press release). Sunwing Vacations Inc. July 31, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  25. ↑ "Wasaya Airways" (PDF).
  26. ↑ "Route map - WestJet". www.westjet.com.
  27. ↑ "photos of Airbus A310, Boeing 720 and Boeing 747SP aircraft at Thunder Bay Airport".
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